Lost in the Echo
by KuroGalaxy14
Summary: Decisions. Some are easy, some are extremely difficult. Some require only a split second to make, while others may take years to think about. Words we hear echo in our minds, some only for a short while, while others may echo forever. The decisions we make affect everything around us. When faced with a life or death situation, which would you choose? GinMado.
1. Voices

**Yush! I managed to finish it! Here you guys are! Lost in the Echo chapter 1 and I'm already off to a pretty good start, I believe. Anyway, enjoy!**

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Decisions. Some are easy, some are extremely difficult. Some require only a split second to make, while others may take years to think about. Words we hear echo in our minds, some only for a short while, while others may echo forever. The decisions we make affect everything around us. When faced with a life or death situation, which would you choose?

"Gingka! Cut it out!"

"You're going to have to try a lot harder than that if you want to stay dry, Zero!"

Madoka sweatdropped at the sound of the two bladers having a water war in her back yard. Well, to be more accurate, Zero was trying to relax, while Gingka had absolutely no intention of letting the younger blader do so.

It had been rather quiet lately, for once. Well, quiet in the sense that there had been no word from any enemies for the last few months. In the terms of actual silence, however…

"I will get you for that!"

Well, with Gingka around it was rarely actually quiet, although Madoka did not miss the silence. If she wanted it to be quiet, she could open the window and yell at the two immature champions to be quiet, gaining about an hour maximum of silence before one of them got bored and decided to instigate a war of some sort.

Madoka looked out the window, only to spot Gingka scrambling up a tree to escape Zero, who had managed to grab the hose. The redheaded blader flashed a triumphant smirk while Zero merely shook his fist, pretending to be angry, although there was a playful gleam in his blue eyes.

"Hey Zero!" Gingka brandished the water gun he was holding.

"Huh?"

"Stardust Driver!" Gingka leapt out of the tree. firing water at the younger blader, who yelped and tried to run, but failed as Gingka grabbed the back of his jacket and squirted water straight down the Ifrit wielder's shirt. Zero, in retaliation, pointed the hose over his shoulder and sprayed Gingka in the face, causing the redhead to yelp and release him.

"I call truce! I call truce!" Gingka exclaimed, running around the back yard as Zero kept up his assault.

"No way! You started this, now finish it!" Zero exclaimed. Gingka huddled up against the wall, yelping and laughing as Zero kept spraying him before the hose turned off.

"Hey! No fair!" Zero yelped as Gingka grinned triumphantly and held up the other end of the hose, which he had unscrewed.

"Are you two done now?" Madoka asked, stepping onto the back porch with a couple of towels.

"Ehh, suppose so." Gingka chuckled, patting Zero on the head as the younger blader pouted.

"I will win next time." Zero declared, causing Gingka to roll his eyes.

"You can try." The Pegasus blader grinned, ruffling Zero's hair as he stepped inside.

"Oh, Gingka, by the way… Tsubasa called and wants you to come to the WBBA Headquarters this evening." Madoka said.

"Did he say why?" Gingka asked, taking the towel that Madoka handed him and beginning to dry his hair.

"No, he just said that it was important."

"Alright. I'll get over there once I've gotten into some drier clothes." Gingka said, twisting up his towel and snapping it at Zero, who yelped as he was struck in the back of his legs. Madoka sweatdropped and shook her head in amusement as Zero attempted to return the strike, but failed.

"Better luck next time, Zero" Gingka crowed, glancing back at the Ifrit wielder as he began to head for his room- only to walk right into the edge of the doorway.

"Doorway's another foot to the right, Gingka." Madoka chuckled.

"I… Knew that…" Gingka said, looking extremely embarrassed.

Zero laughed at the redhead as he walked past him. Gingka half-pouted before chuckling and following the younger blader towards their bedrooms. Madoka shook her head in amusement and went to the kitchen to begin dinner preparation.

Gingka, meanwhile. went to his room and closed the door, still chuckling to himself about running into the doorway. As he began changing into dry clothes, his thoughts turned to Tsubasa. Gingka wondered why he had been called to the WBBA at all, considering that Tsubasa had basically banned him from coming there regularly due to an, erm, 'incident' with a paintball gun on Zero's birthday. Gingka chuckled at the memory, remembering the stunned look on the younger blader's face after he had been ambushed.

Whatever Tsubasa's reason for calling Gingka to the WBBA, it was probably fairly serious. Gingka frowned slightly at the thought. Tsubasa had called only him. Why not anyone else? Perhaps it had something to do with his father? But no, that couldn't be it. Gingka had talked to Ryo on the phone merely two hours ago. But two hours was definitely enough time for something to happen…

Gingka shook his head, frowning further before sighing as he pulled a clean black t-shirt over his head. Whatever the reason Tsubasa had called him, he'd know soon enough.

"Madoka, I'm off to the WBBA!" The redhead called as he headed past the kitchen and towards the front door.

"Alright. Dinner should be ready when you get back." Madoka called back as Gingka left.

"Why did Director Otori call him, anyway?" Zero asked as he entered the kitchen.

"I don't know, but Tsubasa did sound a bit freaked over something." Madoka sighed.

"I guess we can ask Gingka about it when he gets back?" Zero said.

Madoka shrugged. "As long as it's not something classified that only Gingka is allowed to know, yeah. Get the milk out for me, would you?"

Gingka, meanwhile, was striding rapidly down the street, multiple thoughts and ideas coming into his mind. Deciding to take a shortcut, he turned down an alleyway, his steps quickening slightly.

"Psst… Gingka…" A voice stole into the redhead's thoughts, so quiet that he couldn't tell whether it was inside his head or outside.

"Who's there?" the Pegasus wielder challenged.

"Nobody. At least, nobody that you need worry about… Yet."

Gingka looked around, but could see no one. His brain still could not determine whether the voice was coming merely from in his head, or whether someone was speaking to him from nearby.

"What are you talking about?" The redhead growled, reaching for his launcher.

"No need for that. I will not harm you. I have merely come to tell you something… Something important… That you must know."

"And what is that?" Gingka continued turning, trying to find the source of the voice, a voice that sounded strangely like his own, yet at the same time didn't. He hoped that he wasn't going insane.

"There is a deal that you must make…"

"What kind of deal?" Gingka asked slowly, suspiciously.

"But you should know first… That if you do make this deal, and you will… You will have to stand on the sidelines and watch as your friends all die… But you will save the world once more, perhaps more than that."

Gingka let out a sharp gasp. "No. I can't do that."

"I will merely explain. The choice is yours whether or not to make it, but this cannot be changed. There will come a point, and soon, where you will have to take the offer in the heat of imminent battle."

"I can't…" Gingka muttered.

"You will…"

* * *

"Ahh, Gingka. There you are." Tsubasa said as Gingka entered the room.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah. It's important. Don't freak out, and don't tell anyone about this just yet. Nobody needs to know until we've investigated this further."

"What is it?" Gingka asked.

Tsubasa turned to his computer and clicked a couple of times, pulling up a satellite image.

"Do you see it?"

Gingka leaned in, then gasped. "No way…"

Tsubasa nodded. "Exactly. We're sending someone to the site to confirm this now, but it looks like it…"

Gingka stood motionless, trembling in shock, his eyes constricted.

"You will have to take the offer in the heat of imminent battle."

"No…" Gingka muttered.

"Hmm?" Tsubasa said.

"Nothing." Gingka sighed. "Call me when you know more."

"Of course." Tsubasa sighed.

Gingka turned to leave, his hands in his pockets. As he walked out of the WBBA, it began to rain. Gingka sighed, walking as much as he could underneath overhanging ledges to keep himself dry.

"I can't do it… I can't take that deal… I can't stand by and watch my friends die off one by one because I took a deal just to win a battle… There has to be another way, and I'll find it. I changed what Dynamis said would happen, and I'll change this too." Gingka thought to himself as he walked.

"You only think you will. You can't change it. Trust me, I know."

Gingka froze at the sound of that voice, once more ringing in his ears, so familiar, yet not familiar at the same time.

"What do you want?!" He growled under his breath. However, no reply came. Gingka sighed and continued walking, shaking his head as his eyes narrowed in deep thought.

* * *

"Gingka! You should have called me to come pick you up in this storm!" Madoka exclaimed as Gingka arrived. "Now go change and get a warm shower before you catch a cold. Dinner is waiting for you in the oven. Sorry, we already ate."

"That's alright." Gingka sighed, heading for his room. "Is Zero still awake?"

"No. You wore him out with that water war earlier." Madoka said. "He went to bed about a half hour ago."

Gingka nodded. "Alright. I'll be quiet then." he muttered.

"Are you alright?" Concern found its way into Madoka's voice.

"Yeah. Just… fine. Tired." Gingka said. Really, he wasn't actually all that tired. He merely did not want to have to explain anything to Madoka, because if he ever got started, she would worry to no end. Perhaps she'd worry anyway, but the excuse of tiredness would at least alleviate that worry for some time.

Madoka watched the redhead as he disappeared into the dark hallway. She could tell. after having known him for over nine years, that 'tired' was not how he really felt right now. However, he clearly wasn't in a mood for chatting, so Madoka sighed and went back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up.

Gingka, meanwhile, sat down on his bed after closing and locking his bedroom door. The redhead buried his face in his hands, breathing deeply and heavily as he allowed a few tears to fall from between tightly closed eyelids. He felt as if a great weight had settled in his mind and chest, making it difficult to think about anything else, difficult even to breathe.

"Just calm down. It'll be okay."

Gingka sighed and laid on his back, staring at the darkened ceiling. Water dripped from his clothing, creating dark puddles on his blankets. He sighed deeply, trying to calm down and just to even think about the information that he had gotten in just the past couple of hours. Thunder crashed outside and Gingka sighed, hoping that Zero was sleeping alright. He knew that the younger blader had been having trouble sleeping after the DNA incident, which had been rather scary for everyone, Gingka included.

Gingka laid still for a few more moments before getting up and changing into dry clothes, figuring he should just go to bed. Whatever voice he had heard, it must have been just in his head. He considered for an instant going to see a doctor, but pushed that thought out of his mind with a shudder. Ignoring the slightly hungry feeling gnawing at his stomach, Gingka climbed quickly underneath his blankets, curling up into a ball with his back facing the window so that the flashes of lightning would not shine in his face.

A particularly bright flash of lightning lit up the sky as Gingka closed his eyes. As a result, he did not see the silhouetted figure standing and looking in, eyes flashing brilliantly with the lightning. The next instant, the figure was gone, as Gingka drifted slowly and restlessly off to sleep.

* * *

**Gingka:... Is there someone stalking me?**

**Me: Maybe. For all we know it's just some thing in your imagination, but who knows?**

**Gingka:... You know.**

**Me: Well, true... But nobody else knows who, or what, that thing is, or even if it actually exists in real life. You shall all see. I just hope I don't confuse myself with this plotline, because it's pretty confusing. Anyway, Galaxy out, until next time! **


	2. Fear

**I am back! With another chapter! That is very creepy, so I suggest that you not read it if you're alone in a dark room! Enjoy!**

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"Morning Zero." Madoka greeted the Ifrit wielder as he entered the kitchen.

"Morning." Zero muttered, trying to sit down in his chair but failing and ending up on the ground in a surprised heap.

"Still tired?" Madoka laughed.

Zero blinked twice and nodded, slowly climbing back into his chair. "Is Gingka awake yet?"

Madoka frowned. "No. And he didn't eat his dinner last night, which is surprising."

Zero blinked. "He didn't?"

Madoka nodded. "I'm going to see if he's in his room." She said, setting down the plate she had been drying and heading for the hallway.

"Gingka?" Madoka knocked on the redhead's door, only to be greeted by silence. She frowned slightly and tried to open the door, only to find it locked. "Gingka, are you in there?"

The only reply Madoka got was the sound of wind blowing through Gingka's room. By this she guessed that his window must be open.

"Perhaps he snuck out… Again. Don't see why he can't just use the front door, the baka." Madoka muttered, chuckling as she headed for the backyard. Slipping her boots on, the brunette stepped outside and headed for Gingka's window, wrapping her jacket around herself and shivering slightly at the chill of the wind that was blowing. She turned and peered into the slightly-darkened room, then let out a startled, frightened shriek and fell backwards as a dark shape flew at her, exiting through the window before disappearing. Madoka laid on the ground in the mud, her face buried in her arms as she trembled. She tensed, but didn't dare to look up, as something landed heavily in the mud next to her.

"Madoka, are you okay?! What happened?!" Gingka's voice came as the redhead knelt down next to Madoka, ignoring the mud.

"Th-there was s-something in your room!" Madoka exclaimed.

Gingka froze. "H-huh?!"

"It jumped out the window and disappeared right when I saw it." Madoka muttered.

Gingka looked creeped out, putting a hand to his forehead and running his fingers through his red hair. It was in that instant that Madoka noticed the tired, worried look on his face.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Fine." Gingka sighed. "A lot on my mind after yesterday."

"After your conversation with Tsubasa?"

Gingka hesitated, wondering if he should tell her about the voice he had heard. Heard? Had he really heard anything, or was it his mind playing tricks on him? "Yeah." He replied at last. "But don't worry about it."

"You're worrying about it." Madoka pointed out. "That makes it sorta hard for me to not worry."

Gingka sighed. "I don't even know if it's serious. Don't worry. We don't need to worry about it unless it's true."

"Unless what's true?"

Gingka paused, wondering if he should tell her. He sighed. "Nothing. Tsubasa's just investigating something."

"Okay." Madoka said, but seemed unconvinced. "Zero's in the kitchen."

"I'll be there in a second." Gingka said, yawning and putting both hands onto his windowsill.

"Careful with the mud." Madoka warned.

"I'll clean it up." Gingka grunted as he jumped up and swung both legs inside before jumping down.

Madoka sighed and went back inside, although she first looked around with narrowed eyes for whatever had been in Gingka's room. However, she saw nothing, and reentered the kitchen right as Gingka sat down at the table.

"Morning Gingka." Zero said, taking a sip of a glass of orange juice.

"Morning." Gingka muttered, pouring himself some coffee.

"Breakfast will be ready in a few." Madoka said.

"Mmm…" Gingka muttered, staring into his coffee cup. Zero glanced worriedly at the redhead, blue eyes narrowing slightly.

"Just give him some time. Stuff's on his mind." Madoka whispered to Zero as she set a plate down in front of the Ifrit blader. Zero nodded slightly in confirmation, As Madoka set down her own plate and sat down, her phone rang. Blinking in surprise, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Madoka. Is Gingka there?" Tsubasa's voice asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I need to talk to him please." Tsubasa said.

"He's not in the brightest of moods right now, but alright." Madoka handed the phone to Gingka, who, without a word, took it and stepped outside into the back yard.

"Hello?" The redhead said.

"I just got the report back from the team I sent." Tsubasa replied.

"And?" Gingka tensed, almost afraid- afraid?- of the reply that he knew had to be coming, judging by the serious tone of Tsubasa's voice.

"It's him." Tsubasa replied.

Gingka sighed deeply. "Alright. I suppose we have work to do then."

"Yeah. Think you can spare a couple of hours from battling younger bladers to come help out at the WBBA?" Tsubasa asked.

"I can spare all day if you want me to. This is important." Gingka said, running his hand through his hair.

"Alright. And Gingka?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't stress over this, alright? You know what needs to be done. You just have to do it."

"I'll try. See you in about an hour or two?"

"Works for me. Goodbye." Tsubasa hung up.

Gingka sighed and looked at Madoka's phone for a moment, then turned to go back inside. However, the moment he took a step, he froze. Something was behind him. He could almost feel it there. The redhead whirled, but saw no one.

"Are you scared?" A voice whispered. Gingka felt a hint of familiarity, but this voice was different than the one he had heard the night before.

"Who's there?" Gingka growled under his breath.

"Oh, just me… Just… Little… Old… Me…."

Something about the voice put a nagging thought in the back of Gingka's mind, an uneasy feeling which, coupled with the news he had just gotten, made him want to run.

"You are scared. I can see it in your eyes. Oh, such a delicious look."

Gingka's eyes flashed as he turned every which way, looking for the source of this nameless, faceless voice.

"You are scared of me… Yet you can't even figure out who I am… But you know me. Your mind is telling you that much. I am someone you have met before, indeed."

"What do you want?!" Gingka challenged.

"Only one thing. Only one, little, tiny thing… Revenge."

The word sent chills down Gingka's spine, and before he even knew it, he was back inside, skidding across the tile floor of Madoka's kitchen before stopping and leaning up against the counter, a look of pure fright in his eyes. Zero and Madoka stared at the redhead in surprise and fear, watching as he frantically tried to pull himself back together from whatever he had just seen or heard that had frightened him this badly. The redhead turned around, placing both hands on the edge of the counter and staring down at it as he panted, trying desperately to regain his composure.

"Gingka? Are you okay? What happened?" Madoka asked slowly, cautiously.

Gingka closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Nothing." He replied shortly. Even though he knew that it wasn't nothing, he couldn't think of another explanation. Perhaps he really was going mad. He didn't know. What he did know was that he needed to figure out why he was suddenly hearing voices, voices that seemed to be in his head and yet weren't. Voices that threatened him, nearly taunted him.

"It wasn't nothing. You've never torn into a room in any sort of panic like that before." Madoka said, coming up behind Gingka and gently putting a hand on his shoulder. "So what was it?"

Gingka sighed deeply. "I haven't the slightest clue…"

Madoka blinked. "You got freaked out by something, but you don't even know what?"

"A voice." Gingka muttered. "But I couldn't tell where it was coming from." He shuddered. "It just... " The redhead stopped and sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay.." Madoka sighed, giving the redhead a gentle hug and rubbing his back for a couple of seconds. "Come eat, okay? Come eat and calm down."

Gingka shook his head, removing his weight from the counter with a sigh and looking out the window, only to yelp in shock and surprise and step, no, leap, back. Madoka looked worriedly out the window, then back at the redhead, who was trembling, his eyes constricted, face white as if he had seen a ghost, which, in fact… He had. But, by the time Madoka looked out the window, the 'ghost' had vanished. Madoka glanced at Zero. The younger blader also looked rather shocked and frightened. Whether Zero had been frightened by Gingka's sudden, strange actions, or by something else, Madoka couldn't tell.

"Did anyone else… See that?" Gingka whispered breathlessly.

"See what?" Madoka asked.

Gingka sighed deeply, looking down at the ground for a moment before closing his eyes. "You didn't see it… no… him. Nevermind."

"See who?" Madoka asked.

"Nothing…" Gingka muttered. "Maybe my brain's playing tricks on me."

"Do you need to go see a doctor?" Madoka asked.

Gingka shook his head. "I think I'm just tired." He muttered. "It's just my imagination… It has to be."

"Come finish eating then, and then go right back to bed."

Gingka shook his head. "I can't eat. Not right now." He muttered.

"Why not?"

Gingka sighed. "I just… Can't." He muttered, leaving the kitchen.

"Gingka…" Madoka whispered. "What's… Wrong with you?"

"Will he be alright?" Zero asked, a bit freaked out by Gingka's sudden frightened state.

"I don't know, Zero." Madoka sighed. "I've never seen him afraid of anything. Something is definitely messing with his mind, and whether it's his mind or something else…"

"I don't think he's going insane, if that's what you mean." Zero said.

"What makes you think he's not? People don't just randomly change behaviour like that. This is Gingka we're talking about. He refused food after skipping dinner.

"I… Saw it." Zero said.

"Saw what?"

"There was… A face… At the window… Horribly evil-looking. That was what freaked Gingka out."

Madoka froze. "Something was… Looking in?" she whispered.

Zero nodded. "It had red eyes… And a very creepy grin… Like, a psychotic grin… Like it wanted to kill us all in horrific ways." The Ifrit blader turned a shade paler as he spoke. Madoka, shivered, glancing over her shoulder at the window, but finding it entirely normal, as it should be, the sun streaming through it. But if Zero had seen something too, something in that split second of time… Then Gingka couldn't be going crazy, unless he and Zero were somehow going crazy together. The sudden sound of the front door slamming caused both Madoka and Zero to scream, the two scrambling under the kitchen table in an instant before peering out and spotting Gingka's red hair waving in the breeze as he walked past the window outside, on his way to who-knew-where.

"Are you scared…?"

Gingka gasped and took off running, wondering what in the name of sanity had driven him to go outside again after hearing that voice, seeing that twisted face. He could hear something behind him, something pursuing him. He didn't dare glance back. He knew very well what, no, who, that face belonged to. And he did not want to face him. At least… Not alone.

"You can't run forever. I will catch you, Hagane. You are but a bug… A worm, if you prefer that term. I will crush you for what you have done."

"Just go away… Go back to where you came from." Gingka growled, eyes shifting backwards slightly as he ran.

"Why should I, when chasing you around, seeing you so afraid, is so much fun?"

Gingka growled under his breath and kept running. Instinct told him to run, although he wanted to fight. But he couldn't bring himself to pull out his launcher and Pegasus. All he could manage to do was keep running. He only had to make it to the WBBA. Surely he would be safe there?

"You won't be safe. He'll keep hunting you down."

Gingka nearly froze at the sound of the voice from yesterday. Sound? No. It couldn't be. This voice was within his head, Gingka was almost completely sure of it. It sounded too familiar, too close to his own, to possibly be coming from outside.

"Then what can I do…?" The redhead whispered, unsure why he was speaking aloud, but doing it anyway.

"There is only one way. You know what it is."

"I can't. I can't do that. That's not an option." Gingka growled.

"Very well, but you will have to eventually. For now, launching directly at him will get him off your back, but only for a while. Eventually you will have to stop running. Eventually you will have to face him head on. And then, taking the deal will be the only way that you will be able to defeat him."

"I won't. I'll find another way, I always have. A bey's power is limitless."

"Yet you don't know the true meaning of that statement, do you? This deal… He has made it. That's why you're scared of him. Deep down, you know. You know that you can't beat him without taking this deal as I've described it."

Gingka growled.

"Just launch. He's gaining."

Gingka, without really knowing why, obeyed, whirling around and suddenly putting all of his strength into a full-power launch. Pegasus soared from his launcher, blazing with an intense light. It was then that Gingka got his first full look at the twisted figure that was chasing him, but only for an instant, as it spread a pair of dark purple, nearly black, wings, and fled.

"He'll be back soon enough. May as well get out of this area while you have a minute. He knows that he's stronger than you."

"How in the world do you know so much?" Gingka grunted, taking off without bothering to retrieve Pegasus. The silver and blue bey merely spun behind Gingka as he ran.

"That question is easily answered, yet at the same time, the answer is so confusing that I will merely do this."

"Do what?" Gingka growled.

The next instant, without warning, Pegasus went entirely wild. No matter how hard Gingka tried to regain control, the bey simply would not listen.

"Do you understand now?"

Gingka gasped sharply, suddenly noticing that there was a very slight whinnying noise behind the voice.

"Are you…?"

"In a way… Yes."

* * *

**Gingka:... What did you just do?**

**Me: Dunno. Threw off everyone's theories? Freaked you out completely? Gave out the name of that first voice without technically saying that it was his name? -shrugs- Had fun, that's for sure. I shall see you all next week! Galaxy out!**


	3. Visions

**It's almost 2 in the morning. ANs are escaping me. Enjoy the chapter. I'm going to sleep. XP **

* * *

"You're back at the WBBA now. Once you get inside, I won't be talking to you anymore."

"Why not?" Gingka panted.

"Reasons that you do not yet need to know and you wouldn't understand them anyway."

"Try me."

"No time. Get inside. He won't attack you if you're not alone."

"You sure about that?"

"No, but I know how he's thinking and he's highly unlikely to attack you if there are others, at least your friends, around. He may want revenge, but he still suspects that you may be able to beat him, and you can, but only by-"

"I know, taking the deal. Still not an option. I won't watch all of my friends die, no matter when. I'll keep them safe." Gingka muttered angrily as he stepped into the WBBA HQ.

"Gingka? You're earlier than I- Are you alright?" Tsubasa, who was standing at the front desk, asked as he noticed the slightly panicked look on Gingka's face.

"Let's just say things haven't exactly been the most normal since last night." Gingka sighed, trying to calm himself down.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Gingka shook his head. "All you need to know is that 'he' is here and has apparently decided that he wants revenge. He was chasing me on my way over here."

Tsubasa froze. "How in the world…?!"

"It's complicated." Gingka sighed. "But I saw him with my own eyes, and he's different. If you're wondering how he got over here, he's apparently gained some sort of strange power over the last seven years."

"What do you mean, strange power?"

"Um…" Gingka hesitated, wondering what to say.

"Come on, we'll go to my office and talk about it." Tsubasa said, putting a hand on Gingka's shoulder and steering the redhead towards the elevator.

"Mark my words, Hagane. I will have my revenge for what you did. I haven't sacrificed my very humanity for nothing, and I will win. Then, nothing will be able to stop me."

A dark, ominous figure crouched atop a nearby building, watching the WBBA. His dark purple wings were folded behind his back, jagged yet powerful. His face was twisted, some sort of weird mixture between that of a dragon and a human. A jagged-scaled tail lashed the air wildly behind him as he stared with glowing red eyes into the WBBA headquarters, easily spotting Gingka and Tsubasa as they entered Tsubasa's office on one of the top floors. Long, black hair whipped around in a strong wind that picked up before the shadowy figure dove off the rooftop, gliding away into the distance.

"I hope you're not going insane or something, Gingka. You should probably talk to a doctor about this."

Gingka shook his head. "No. Voices in my head can't control Pegasus. Only I can do that."

"Then how could this voice?"

"There's only one explanation. It was Pegasus speaking, but…"

"You hadn't known that to be possible, for specific words before." Tsubasa guessed.

Gingka nodded. "I may be the first to actually have a conversation like that with a bey, because I'm sure that it would have been recorded somewhere if it had happened before."

"Assuming it was even known that it was happening before and assuming that's what's going on." Tsubasa sighed. "What about this figure though?"

"No way I could have imagined it. And it was definitely him." Gingka sighed as he sat down on the couch, pressing his fingertips together and resting his chin in his hands.

Tsubasa watched his friend worriedly. Whether Gingka was going insane or not, the redhead definitely needed help. He seemed to have aged quite a bit in the short few hours it had been since the night before when they had met.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Tsubasa asked.

Gingka blinked in surprise at the question, raising his head slightly. "Not a ton, why?"

"You look tired." Tsubasa said. "Maybe you should take a nap."

"But-"

"The situation here can wait. We know that he's here in the city, so now we just have to be careful. I'll start calling the others. You lie down and take a nap."

Gingka sighed. "Alright… But let me know if anything happens."

"Of course." Tsubasa said, tossing Gingka a blanket, much to the redhead's surprise.

"What? Sometimes I sleep here." Tsubasa chuckled.

Gingka chuckled tiredly and laid down, rolling himself up in the blanket and quickly dropping off to sleep.

Tsubasa sighed deeply, eyeing Gingka worriedly for a few moments before turning to pick up the phone.

It was dark. The air seemed cold, yet at the same time there seemed to be no air. There was only darkness and the shadows of jagged shapes floating past.

"Do you understand…?"

"Understand what?!" Gingka turned, or tried to, but he couldn't find the source of the voice.

"This is what will happen… If he defeats you."

"I know that much! Why are you telling me something that I already know?! Who are you, really?!"

"I… Told you…"

"But how is that possible?!"

"You have heard beys speak before, although it was more of an instinctive sensing of emotion. Is it that surprising that you'd be able to hear me now? Essentially, you know who I am."

"Okay, why are you telling me this then?!"

"You know the reason I'm showing you this."

Gingka groaned. "I'm not taking it. Never. I can't take those terms. I'll find another way. Isn't that what we've always done?"

"Perhaps, but this time it won't work."

"What made you lose your nerve all of a sudden?" Gingka snapped. "And why won't you show yourself either?! You've been hiding this whole time!"

"I…"

"You offer me some deal that's supposed to help me win this battle a second time. Fine. I'm still not taking it, but why won't you show yourself?"

"It… Is not yet time... "

"Then when will it be?!"

"Please. Just be patient. You will have to wait and see what happens."

"Do you even know what happens?!"

"... Yes, but I cannot tell you more than I already have told you. The deal you had to know about. You also needed to know that you will not be able to defeat him unless you take it, but if you take it, then nothing can stop you."

"How do you know?! Tell me that much, at least!"

"I can't…" The voice echoed again, sounding… Sorrowful?

"Why not?!"

"Because… There are reasons you do not yet know… And I cannot tell you any more than I have."

Gingka growled angrily.

"Calm down. All will be explained in time, but now is not the time. You cannot change what will happen."

"Dynamis said the same thing, yet the outcome was different." Gingka growled. "The same will happen here."

"You do not understand!" The voice thundered. "There is literally no way to beat him without taking the deal, since he has taken it! You cannot merely use normal blading skills, no matter how powerful! He will ignore the bey and attack you directly, and nothing will hold him off for long!"

Gingka growled. "I can block a bey's attack. You should know your own speed, Pegasus."

The voice sighed. "I do… But it still does not matter."

"Why not?!"

"Because he will not be attacking with a bey! He will be attacking, with the power of-no, more power than his bey had because of the deal, which he took, and there will be absolutely nothing you can do about it! He will kill you in an instant, and I cannot step in to help!" Lightning flashed through the darkness as the voice thundered, the dark area suddenly lighting up and becoming the starry, galaxy-filled scene that Gingka was more familiar with.

Gingka gasped sharply at this new revelation. "What do you mean?! How is that even possible?!"

"I have nothing further to say. I will let you finish resting now, but know this: You can try to fight, and you will, but it will be futile. You would be better off just taking the deal now so that you have the power to fight him off before he can do anything, but I know that you won't do that. You can take it at any time. All you have to do to accept it is use your full power."

"Then… I'll not fight at full power." Gingka growled.

"That is why you will not win. I have told you what your options are. The time will come, and you will choose the deal. It may as well be said that you will lose your friends either way. If you do not defeat him, then they will die at his hand. If you defeat them, you at least get to have them for a little bit longer, several years at the least, but eventually you will be left alone. The choice is yours. Either way, you will lose them at one point, but taking the deal will save the world one more."

Gingka found himself nearly holding his breath at the depth of emotion that was in the voice. Undertones of sorrow, power, and determination echoed in Gingka's mind even after the voice, no… After Pegasus... had stopped speaking.

"Yeah, so- Gingka?" Tsubasa paused mid phone-call as the redhead shot up, panting, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

Gingka brought his face into his knees, covering his head with both arms and taking a few deep breaths before finally releasing a muffled, "M'fine…"

Tsubasa raised an eyebrow. "You're explaining things later." He said before putting the phone back to his mouth and continuing. "Sorry about that, Kenta. Anyway, where was I?"

Gingka sighed, not bothering to listen to what Tsubasa was saying as he laid back down, deciding to try to sleep more. If only Pegasus hadn't chosen that moment to talk to him…

"You can't escape me, Hagane…"

Gingka tensed, growling and looking around. Darkness pressed in from every side, nearly suffocating him.

"I will have revenge. You cannot beat me a second time."

"Oh yeah?! Watch me!"

The dark voice chuckled. "Your overconfidence always did annoy me. Keep thinking you can win. It only makes beating you all the more satisfying."

Gingka growled. "I have the power of all the bladers of the world on my side. That's what beat you before, and it can do it again. I can still access that!"

"Oh, but only if the world even knows that you're fighting me at all. Last time, they were all watching. This time, I intend to face you alone so that that can't happen, so that I can kill you while you're alone, helpless, at your weakest."

Gingka growled again, narrowing his eyes. He froze as glowing red pinpoints of light appeared, growing steadily nearer.

"Are you… Afraid?"

"No." Gingka growled, clenching both hands into fists.

"You are…"

"No, no I'm not."

"You are… I can see it."

"I'm no more scared than I was last time!"

"You can't prove that…"

"I can too!"

"Then face me."

"I am facing you!"

"In battle…"

"I never said I wouldn't!"

"Alone... "

Gingka froze. His friends were practically the source of his power. Sure, he had plenty of power without them around, but having someone there to cheer you on helped in ways that those without friends or at least fans could never understand. Considering that, would accepting this challenge be setting him up for failure?

"Well?"

There was only one way to find out…

"I'm waiting…"

Gingka narrowed his eyes in thought.

"Hagane…"

After a few moments, recklessness won over caution.

"What is your choice?"

Gingka looked up, directly into the glowing red eyes hovering mere inches from his face. His eyes constricted slightly in what he admitted to be fear, but he stood his ground.

"Well?"

"Fine."

A malicious grin broke out just below the eyes.

"Good... "

"Just tell me the time and place… I'll come. We'll finish this." Gingka snarled, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes… I'll finish you."

"You can only try!" Gingka's eyes flashed.

The voice chuckled evilly, sending shivers down Gingka's spine.

"Tonight. Midnight. Come alone to the northern outskirts of the city."

"Very well then… I'll be there." Gingka stated, lifting his chin ever so slightly and staring straight into the eyes of his enemy.

"You will fall at my hand… Utterly fall, crash, and burn... "

"No. That's just what you think… Rago."

* * *

**Tadaa! Now you guys know for sure who Gingka's creepy-psychotic-stalker-dude is! Many of you guessed Rago or Nemesis, and technically both are correct. (This will be explained further later.) Anyway, Ja mata ne! Galaxy out, see you next chapter!**


	4. Monster

**I'ma back! More mystery, some suspense, some humor, a bit of typical Gingka idiocy, and... Well, that's all I'll say for now. XP Enjoy!**

* * *

"Gingka?"

"I'm alright." Gingka said, standing and stretching. Tsubasa sighed as he noticed the calm expression on the redhead's face.

"I've called two or three of the others. Dynamis and Tithi took a while to reach. Wanna call Kyoya?" Tsubasa asked.

Gingka nodded, pulling out his phone. "Been a while since I talked to him." he smiled slightly as he dialed and put the phone to his ear.

"This is Kakeru Tategami. How can I help you?"

"Hey Kakeru. It's Gingka. Is Kyoya there?"

"Oh! Of course! Hang on a sec and I'll get him." Kakeru said.

Gingka chuckled at the younger Tategami's enthusiasm.

"Hello?" Kyoya's gruff voice came through the phone less than a minute later.

"Hey Kyoya."

"Gingka? What in the world made you suddenly decide to call me after all these years?"

Gingka snorted. "What, I can't call an old friend and rival just outta the blue?"

"Your voice betrays that something's up over there, wherever you are."

"I'm at the Metal Bey City WBBA, as a matter of fact, and you're right. Something has come up." Gingka sighed.

Kyoya raised an eyebrow. "Something big?"

"To put it shortly, think you can battle Nemesis a second time?" Gingka asked. "Rago has returned. He was following me this morning."

Kyoya was silent for a few moments.

"You're kidding me."

"Nope. Satellite evidence of him waking up again on Nemesis Island, and I saw him this morning." Gingka said.

Kyoya groaned. "Great. Right when it seemed like there weren't going to be any more problems."

Gingka chuckled slightly. "There will probably always be something to deal with. Just the way the world works, I suppose."

"Well then can the world stop making messes for once? I'm not a maid." Kyoya huffed.

Gingka blinked, then dropped to the ground laughing.

"What?!" Kyoya exclaimed angrily.

"That… Is probably the weirdest thing I've ever heard you say." Gingka laughed, getting back up and shaking his head with an amused smile on his face.

"S-shut up!" Kyoya snarled.

Gingka only laughed harder, bringing a smile to Tsubasa's face at the sudden change in the redhead's mood.

Kyoya growled. "Hagane, I swear…"

"Okay, okay, I'm calm." Gingka chuckled. "How soon will you be over here?"

"I can be there tonight probably." Kyoya sighed.

"Alright." Gingka replied. "Seeya in a few hours then, I suppose."

"And you owe me a bey battle. I still intend to beat you." Kyoya huffed.

Gingka chuckled. "We'll see."

Kyoya merely snorted. "Later, Hagane."

"Bye Kyoya." Gingka chuckled, then hung up, his expression immediately becoming serious as he stared at his phone. The redhead frowned, almost considering calling Kyoya back just to tell the Leone blader that he'd likely be off fighting Nemesis before Kyoya ever arrived.

"Why don't you call Kenta and your dad?" Tsubasa suggested as he set down his phone. "I'll go grab us some coffee." With that, the silver-haired blader left the room.

Gingka nodded silently, smiling slightly at the thought of talking to his dad again. It had been far too long since the two Haganes had spoken. Gingka doubted that he had called his dad within the past two years, if not longer.

"Time to fix that then,.." the Pegasus blader muttered, quickly finding Ryo's name in his contacts and pressing the call button before raising the phone to his ear once more and turning to look out the window.

"Mr. Hagane, your phone's ringing." Hikaru said, handing Ryo the black device.

"It's Gingka!" Ryo exclaimed, answering immediately. "He-" He was interrupted by a startled shriek followed by some scuffling noises, as well as the sound of a door slamming.

"Gingka, are you alright?!" Tsubasa's voice came, sounding startled and concerned.

"Guys? What's going on?" Ryo stood, concern flashing across his features. Kenta and Hikaru paused what they were doing and looked over.

The other end of the line went dead silent, only causing greater worry in Ryo's mind. "Anyone?" The Phoenix said, but only muffled noises and voices came.

"Sorry Mr. Hagane. We'll call you back in a second." Tsubasa's voice came.

"What happened?" Ryo asked quickly, concerned for his son.

Tsubasa sighed. "It's complicated, but I've gotta go calm Gingka down before this turns into a full-blown panic attack. Hang on. We'll explain later." the Metal Bey City director hung up.

Ryo frowned. "Panic attack…?" he muttered, then sighed and sat back down, pressing his fingertips together and resting his chin atop his thumbs.

"Should I get a helicopter ready to go over there?" Hikaru asked.

Ryo looked at the bluenette in surprise and nodded. "Kenta, alert their air traffic control that we're coming."

"Got it." Kenta said, picking up a phone off the desk and dialing. Hikaru glanced down at her tablet and tapped a few areas on the screen, issuing the orders. Ryo got up and left the room, undoubtedly to gather a few things for what would likely be at least an overnight stay, if not longer, in Metal Bey City.

"Director Ootori?"

"Yes?" Tsubasa sighed, glancing up at his computer.

"Director Hagane and two of his aides called. They said they are coming by helicopter and will be here in an hour."

"Alright. Thank you." Tsubasa sighed, running a hand through his hair in exasperation as he watched Gingka, who was laying on the floor breathing frantically. Perhaps he should call Madoka… The brunette might be able to get Gingka to calm down, but she would be busy working at the B-Pit by this time. Therefore, the best solution was probably to not worry her, merely to wait until Ryo arrived. After all, the older Hagane knew his son better than anyone else did, and would likely be able to deal with the frightened young adult more efficiently than anyone else. So, Tsubasa sat and waited, worry clouding his mind and halting any progress on work as he watched Gingka try to calm down.

With his focus entirely on Gingka, Tsubasa never noticed the dark shadow with its glowing red eyes hovering in midair just outside the window. Rago watched with a twisted grin on his face as Gingka, the blader who had defeated him seven years ago, laid on the floor, not daring to take his face out of his scarf, where he had buried it.

"Look at you. Pathetic." Rago growled. "How in the world were you ever able to defeat me?! Oh, but seeing you like this, so afraid… Is better than anything. Well, most things. The only thing that will be better is to watch you crumble under my hand tonight." Rago's eyes shone even brighter red at the thought. "I cannot wait until then."

Tsubasa let out a sharp gasp, finally looking out the window as the room went nearly completely dark. He could barely see the winged silhouette against the dark purple energy that Rago was emitting, but he could easily see the haunting, glowing red eyes. Only one thought was in Tsubasa's mind as he stared at the monstrosity that was staring back at him.

"This is what Gingka is afraid of."

Tsubasa glanced back at the redhead, barely able to see Gingka in the growing darkness. Everything had gone dead silent, a fact which alarmed Tsubasa to no small extent.

"How can you ever dare face me, either of you?" Rago's voice echoed in the ears and minds of both Tsubasa and Gingka.

"Like this." Gingka's voice came after a few moments. Tsubasa glanced back as a slight blue glow entered the corner of his eye. The silver-haired adult sighed in relief as he saw Gingka standing, wrapped in blue flames.

Rago chuckled evilly. "Finally found your nerve, huh? Very well then. The time will come for us to fight."

"Believe me… I'm ready." Gingka growled.

Rago cackled evilly. "I will let you think that… Until our battle."

Tsubasa sighed in relief as the darkness faded away, Rago flying away with it. He turned to look at Gingka, only to find that the Pegasus blader had dropped to his knees and was staring blankly at the ground, breathing heavily.

"Gingka? Are you alright?" Tsubasa asked.

Gingka hesitated, then sighed and ran a hand through his hair, standing slowly.

"I'll be fine." He muttered, moving over to the couch and sitting down, resting his elbows on his knees and folding his hands together, staring down at the ground once more.

"I'm going to keep calling people." Tsubasa sighed. Gingka merely nodded, staring down at the ground.

"Calm down."

Gingka found his vision clouding over slightly as the scenery around him again changed to the starry field.

"Pegasus?"

"I know he's pretty scary looking, but calm down. If you're going to take that challenge tonight, you'll need to be calm and level headed, not rushing in mindlessly."

Gingka sighed deeply, closing his eyes.

"I'll be fine."

"Liar."

"What?! I know what I'm doing!"

"Trust me, I know for a fact from my own past experiences that you have absolutely no clue what you're doing because you're just going to rush in mindlessly as you usually do, without telling anyone where you're going, after making some lame excuse that you're just going for a walk, and they'll figure it out within about fifteen minutes, spend an hour searching for you, and by the time they get there, it will almost have been too late and you'll have taken the deal."

"I told you, I'm not taking that deal."

"I know for a fact that you will. Tonight."

"We'll see. Now buzz off." Gingka snapped.

Pegasus sighed. "Alright…"

* * *

"Gingka?"

The starry field faded as Gingka jerked back to reality, raising his head slightly as his vision cleared. A pair of strong arms wrapped around his shoulders and head, pulling him close to an older figure. Gingka's eyes shifted tiredly upwards before the redhead turned his head, burying his face in Ryo's shirt.

In that split second, Ryo spotted the frightened child in the eyes of the young man his son had become. Instinctively, he wrapped both arms tightly around Gingka's shoulders and head, resting his cheek atop Gingka's spiked hair.

"So, in short, Rago has returned and has some sort of weird power and Gingka's basically terrified of him?" Kenta said in a low voice to Tsubasa, who nodded.

"Clearly it's pretty bad if Gingka's this scared." Hikaru muttered.

"You have no clue…" Tsubasa sighed.

"You saw him too?" Kenta raised an eyebrow.

Tsubasa nodded. "But it's Gingka he's after, that's for sure. He basically ignored me."

"Are you alright?" Ryo muttered quietly, stroking Gingka's hair. The younger redhead nodded slightly, sighing heavily and turning his head to look up at his father.

Ryo smiled. "Look at you… All grown up."

Gingka cracked a slight smile at this. "It's… Been five years…"

Ryo nodded. "Too long. I'll admit that, after not seeing you for so long, I had forgotten that you'd grow more."

This elicited a chuckle from Gingka as he sat up, stretching.

"Well, welcome back." Tsubasa said sarcastically.

"Wasn't I only gone for an hour?" Gingka glanced over at Tsubasa.

"Two, actually. What happened? You were completely zoned out." Kenta said.

"I, uh... " Gingka frowned. "Two hours?"

"Two hours. You were sitting there with a completely glazed over look on your face." Tsubasa said.

"It took us an hour to wake you up. Freaked everyone out. We were about to call the hospital." Hikaru said.

Gingka's eyes constricted before he dove behind the couch, pulling the blanket with him. Ryo blinked repeatedly, his arms still in a hugging position before he turned his head, twisting to get a look at the redhead behind the couch before animefalling off the couch.

"I'm fine! Don't need a doctor!" Gingka said in a muffled tone.

"... Is he hiding underneath the blanket…?" Hikaru asked.

"... Yes…?" Ryo said, getting up and walking around behind the couch. In one swift motion, he yanked the blanket off of Gingka. A startled yelp came from the Pegasus blader before a blue and red blur darted behind the nearest potted plant. The other three blinked, then laughed. Gingka gained a tick mark as he heard a sort of whinnying snort in his head. The next instant, the room went dead silent.

"Did… You guys hear that?" Hikaru asked in a near-whisper.

* * *

"Hey Mr. Hagane!" Madoka greeted nearly an hour later as Ryo, Tsubasa, Hikaru, Kenta, and Gingka entered her house.

"Hello, Madoka. Man, all of you guys have grown." Ryo said, giving the brunette a warm hug.

Madoka chuckled. "Yeah. Suppose we're only waiting on Kyo-" she was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. "Or not."

"Mr. Hagane?" Kyoya seemed surprised as he stepped into the house.

"Hello Kyoya! Long time no see!" Ryo exclaimed, attempting to ruffle the Leone blader's hair, only for Kyoya to duck away with a snarl.

"I'm not a child!" Kyoya snapped.

"Uh-huh, sure. You keep thinking that." Gingka snorted, earning himself an angered glare.

"Well, someone's feeling a bit better." Madoka laughed. "Gotten over your scare from this morning?"

Gingka shrugged. "Meh. Suppose so."

"Zero saw him too, by the way." Madoka called over her shoulder as she led the group to the living room.

"He did?" Gingka blinked.

Madoka nodded. "Yeah. You might wanna go talk to him."

"Where is he?" Gingka asked.

"I think he's in his room, but he might be in the backyard." Madoka said.

"Yard's closer. I'll check there first." Gingka said.

"You sure you want to go outside? We did get chased for a bit on our way over." Ryo said.

"I'll be fine." Gingka waved it off as he stepped out into the near-darkness. As he closed the door, he heard laughter.

"Gingka?" Zero's voice came from the tree.

"Yeah. I'm right here." Gingka sighed heavily, his expression becoming solemn as he walked over, barely able to make out the silhouette of the younger blader. "Madoka said you saw him as well?"

Zero jumped down from the tree, nodding silently. "It's been haunting me all day. What was that thing?!"

Gingka sighed. "Rago and Nemesis mixed, apparently."

Zero's eyes widened. "W-what?!"

"Don't worry about it. Right now, he only wants me. For revenge." Gingka sighed.

"Revenge?" Zero whispered.

Gingka nodded. "Look, don't tell anyone… But I have to leave. Right now. I'm going to fight him."

"Alone?!" Zero yelped.

"Shh! Yes." Gingka sighed. "I have to. I'll be fine, don't worry. If I'm not back by morning… Well, then you can tell the others."

Before Zero could reply or protest, Gingka had leapt over the fence and was out of sight.

"Gingka…"

I'm sorry… Everyone...

* * *

**Does that count as a cliffhanger? I think it does. Enjoy! Obviously we'll be having a bit of a battle in the next chapter. I dunno if it'll be the whole thing though. We shall see. XD Until next time, peeps! Ja mata ne! Galaxy out!**


	5. Deal

**Here it is! The next chapter! You are all gonna hate me (again) but I'm not sorry! (And now that I've filled you with a sense of "Oh no, what did she do this time?" Enjoy the chapter!)**

* * *

"You really are going through with this, huh?"

"Yeah, I am. I have to."

"Despite all of my warnings you're still just as stubborn as ever."

"What'd you expect?" Gingka sighed, pausing for a second and looking around to gain his bearings before running directly north.

Pegasus chuckled. "No less…"

Gingka smiled slightly at this, then kept running. His thoughts turned to Zero, Madoka, and the others who were all gathered. For a split second, he considered calling them and letting them know anyway, but he soon decided against it. It was better to defeat Nemesis and then head back, assuming he'd have the energy to do both. The redhead sighed heavily, golden-brown eyes steeling into pure determination as he reached the edge of town and stopped running, looking around for Rago.

"You actually came. I'm almost impressed."

Gingka froze, then turned slowly, eyes narrowing and flashing as lightning ripped through the air overhead.

"Shall we begin?" Rago asked with a smirk.

"This will end the same way it did last time, but this time, you won't be able to come back." Gingka said coldly.

Rago began laughing hysterically. "I'll always be able to come back. Really, I could have waited until you died to make my move, but I had to have the pleasure of killing you myself."

Gingka growled under his breath. "You won't kill me. I promise you that."

"You cannot defeat me." Rago grinned maniacally, his eyes glowing blood red. "I have gained the ultimate power, one you can never hope to gain."

"Someone doesn't know that you have the same deal option." Pegasus snorted.

"Still not taking it." Gingka muttered under his breath.

"Let's begin." Rago said.

Gingka instantly raised his launcher and launched powerfully. Rago grinned madly and swatted the silver and blue bey away as if it were a fly, then lunged straight for Gingka, much to the blader's surprise.

"If you think you can defend yourself, go ahead and try!" Rago roared as Gingka dove to the side, scrambling quickly to his feet only to find Rago flying at him again.

Thunder echoed through the air as rain began pouring down, and dust turned to mud beneath Gingka and Rago's feet. What was supposed to have been a battle turned into a game of cat-and-mouse as Gingka tried to gather his wits enough to make an attack. However, every time Gingka attacked with Pegasus, Rago merely swatted the bey away as if it were nothing.

"I need more power to fight him…" Gingka thought, glowing blue along with his bey as he attacked Rago from behind. The Nemesis wielder stumbled forwards slightly, then cackled.

"Is that the most you can do?! Pathetic!"

"I suppose I should explain what specifically this deal does?"

"Not now, Pegasus." Gingka grunted as he dropped to the ground and rolled underneath another of Rago's attacks.

"Suit yourself." Pegasus sighed. "But without taking the deal you'll just be doing this until he finally catches and kills you, and then he'll take over the world and destroy it. That is what he wants."

"You're not helping much yourself."

"It's not like there's really much I can actually do."

"You can shut up and let me focus." Gingka grunted, diving into the mud once more to avoid Rago, who was now in the air.

"Look at you. Patheti-" Rago never got to finish his sentence as Gingka unleashed a divebomb attack that sent the black-haired man to the ground. The redhead smirked as his silver and blue bey created a wall of flames around him.

"Now that we're on the same level… Let's finish this, Pegasus!"

Rago got up, spitting out a mouthful of mud to the side and laughing. "You think we're on the same level?! Look at you! You're nothing but a worm in the mud, and barely even that!"

Gingka narrowed his eyes. "We'll see."

* * *

"It sure is raining hard outside." Madoka commented, watching the water pouring down her windows.

"Are Gingka and Zero still out there?" Tsubasa asked.

Madoka blinked. "Those idiots are going to catch a cold out there!" she exclaimed, rushing to the back door and slamming it open. "Gingka! Zero! Come inside before you get sick!"

Zero, standing under the tree, hesitated for a second. What should he tell Madoka? After a few moments, he began walking slowly towards the house, suddenly realizing that he was soaking wet and cold.

"There you are!" Madoka said, instantly wrapping the black-haired blader in a large towel and guiding him inside. "Is Gingka still out there?"

"Somewhere." Zero muttered.

Madoka froze. "What do you mean?"

Zero bit his lip, deciding in an instant that she had to know. "He… Went to fight Rago… Alone. He said not to follow him,"

"What?!" Madoka shrieked, causing Ryo and Tsubasa to rush into the room worriedly.

"What's going on?! Where's Gingka?" Ryo instantly noticed his son's absence.

"He went to fight Rago! Alone!" Madoka exclaimed.

"We have to go. Now." Kyoya growled.

"I'll grab some umbrellas from the closet." Madoka said.

"We don't have time for umbrellas!" Kyoya snarled, bolting for the door with the others close behind. Madoka sighed and followed.

* * *

"Are you sure this will work?"

"It's got to. It worked for our enemies, did it not?"

"Do we even know that for sure?"

"I don't know… But I believe it did. These old carvings prove that it did."

"True. But this isn't the same one they used."

"Would you quit worrying and just go through?! There's a reason we went to such great lengths to get their blueprints!"

The first figure sighed and stepped towards a bright, shining, swirling light. The second turned to face a small group of people standing behind him.

"Comrades! You all know very well the struggles we have faced, the reason that many of us have been to prison, from where we have just escaped. Many of our comrades have been lost in battle after battle against our greatest enemy, but have we given up?!"

The response was a resounding "No!" from several voices.

"Today, we have successfully completed a machine that will allow us to finally defeat him, to turn defeat into victory!"

Cheering echoed through the large, abandoned-looking building the group was in.

"Now I say, to arms! The tables have been turned against us time and time again, but today we turn them back! Charge!" the figure, obviously the leader, said, turning and running into the light behind him, as the others followed.

* * *

"Quit being so stubborn and just take it. The attacks you have aren't working."

"I still haven't tried everything, now shut up." Gingka panted, rolling to the side once more and wincing.

"He's already landed one hit, and you can feel what that did to you. It'll be harder to dodge the longer you go on. He knows that. He's just playing with you and wearing you down. I knew this would happen."

"I said shut up." Gingka growled, then yelped in pain and surprise as he was hit full-on in the chest and sent flying, smacking against a nearby building with a heavy thud before falling to the ground. The redhead gasped for breath, trying to regain the air that had been knocked out of his lungs.

* * *

"Where could they be?!" Ryo growled, pausing under a tree to look around.

"Do you hear that…?" Zero whispered, obviously frightened.

"Hear what?" The others asked, pausing in their tracks.

"That laughter…" Zero whispered, his sentence punctuated by a clap of thunder.

Madoka and the others strained their ears, and soon enough, they too heard it: the sound of Rago, laughing maniacally.

"But which direction is that coming from?!" Kyoya growled.

"North..."

The entire group froze.

"Hurry… Before it's too late."

"Let's go!" Ryo exclaimed, too anxious to find Gingka to question the voice that seemed to be in his head, yet outside of it at the same time. The entire group ran off, heading straight north.

"Gingka, why'd you have to be such a reckless idiot…" Tsubasa muttered under his breath as he and the others ran.

They ran past street lamps and signs, past buildings, parked cars, and alleyways. They ran as if their lives depended on it, and that very well could have been true. Only one thought was on their minds: Defeat Rago, and save Gingka, who was undoubtedly in trouble by now, if Rago's echoing, maniacal laughter was any indicator.

Madoka caught herself wondering for an instant if Gingka was dead. Her eyes constricted at the thought and she ran faster, nearly slipping on the wet pavement on several occasions. She knew that Rago wanted revenge on Gingka. Why would he be stalking the redhead otherwise?

Zero was frightened. He remembered all too well the darkness that had overtaken the world seven years ago, remembered how scary it had been. At any second, he had expected death to come, which was a traumatizing thought for a seven-year-old who barely understood what was going on in the first place.

Kyoya could think of nothing but how stupid it was of Gingka to go off without telling them. Well, he had told Zero, but still, Kyoya hadn't thought that his rival would be stupid enough to actually go and face Nemesis alone. The thought made the greenette growl under his breath. "Gingka, if you die because of your stupidity…"

Ryo panted heavily, feeling his age beginning to get to him. Yet he pressed on. He had seen how frightened Gingka had been earlier, and he could only imagine what could be going on now. Fear crowded the older Hagane's mind as he tried to run faster, feeling his heart pounding heavily against his chest.

* * *

Lightning flashed overhead and thunder rolled as the battle continued. By now, blood was beginning to mingle with the mud as Gingka slowly got back to his feet, coughing.

"Look at you… Pathetic." Rago snorted.

Gingka widened his stance, growling under his breath.

"I could just finish you now, you know." Rago grinned evilly. "But that's not as much fun. I want to see you suffer."

Gingka narrowed his eyes, spitting out a mixture of mud and blood as he braced himself, waiting for the next imminent attack. Rago had managed to hit him several times now, and Gingka was beginning to find it slightly difficult to breathe and extremely difficult to dodge.

"Pegasus!" the redhead gasped, "Storm Bringer!"

Soon enough, Rago was encased in a wall of flames. Gingka quickly moved around the corner of the building and out of sight, trying to buy some time to regain his wits. A loud roar echoed as Rago smacked Pegasus into a nearby building, leaving a crater behind.

"Nice try, Hagane. But this isn't over yet!" Rago roared.

"You're right, it's not!" Kyoya's voice called.

Rago turned, slowly. Gingka's eyes constricted as he saw his friends, all of them, approaching.

"Found you." Rago smirked and turned, flying at Gingka once more.

"Leone!" Kyoya launched in an attempt to stop the dark figure, but soon found that Leone was having trouble in the mud. Ryo, Tsubasa, Kenta, and Zero launched as well, sending their beys flying to block Rago, but he smacked them all back and turned on the other bladers.

"Pegasus!" Gingka stepped into full view after swiping away the blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth.

"Well, here's a nice opportunity." Rago chuckled evilly.

Gingka narrowed his eyes. Pegasus darted between Rago and the others, taking up a defensive stance.

"You think I can be stopped by a bey anymore? You've been trying. You know that it doesn't work." Rago sneered, flying at Madoka, who froze in fear. Ryo moved to shove the young woman out of the way, nearly getting hit himself, but somehow he dodged as well as a bolt of lightning struck uncomfortably close to the group. Everyone automatically ran past Rago, who had been struck, and to Gingka, who had his hands over his ears from the loud clap of thunder that had sounded simultaneously with the lightning.

"Are you alright?" Ryo asked, putting a hand on Gingka's shoulder as the redhead lowered his arms to his sides.

Gingka nodded slightly. "He's stronger than last time…"

"Why is he not using a bey?" Zero asked.

"He… Is Nemesis now… Apparently." Gingka muttered, coughing and shivering.

The others looked slightly confused.

"How is that possible?" Madoka asked.

"It's-" Gingka's eyes widened and he shoved Zero out of the way of an attack from Rago, taking the hit himself and getting sent flying for his efforts.

"Hey!" Zero yelped, darting forwards and tackling Rago.

Rago growled. "Insolent brat!" he roared, throwing the Ifrit blader into a wall.

"Zero!" Gingka exclaimed as he managed to scramble back to his feet, one hand pressed against his ribcage.

"Are you still going to be stubborn?"

Gingka growled under his breath.

"You know what must be done. So do it. If you don't, everyone, including you, dies here, and then the world is destroyed. There will be nothing left if you keep being selfish like this. Trust me, if there was another option I would have told you."

"I'll just kill off your little friends first then. Don't go anywhere." Rago sneered as he flared his energy, using some of it to pin Gingka to the wall while he began heading for the others. Ryo, Kyoya, and Tsubasa automatically got in front of the others.

"Madoka, Hikaru, run. Take Zero, run, and don't look back." Ryo said.

"But-" Hikaru began to protest.

"Go!" Ryo shouted at the bluenette.

"Gingka…" Madoka said in a near-whimper as she watched the Pegasus blader struggling weakly against the darkness that was holding him down.

"None of you are going anywhere." Rago growled, creating a wall of darkness that kept anyone from leaving.

Ryo and Kyoya tensed as their evil opponent threw the now-unconscious Zero at their feet, then began walking slowly towards them, his eyes gleaming blood red as a malicious smirk crossed his lips. The two bladers stepped over their unconscious comrade as Madoka moved cautiously forwards to check on the Ifrit blader.

"Why weren't you using your full power, Gingka?" Kyoya muttered.

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway." Ryo muttered in reply. "You were using full power, and for whatever reason Gingka didn't, it wouldn't have mattered in the long run."

"You've figured it out then?! It's hopeless! Give up and perhaps I'll spare you." Rago cackled.

"No! If we're going to die, we may as well do it fighting!" Kenta said bravely.

Rago only laughed harder as he flared his dark energy further. Gingka hung his head, his long bangs falling over his face and hiding it from view.

"Better make up your mind quickly." Pegasus's voice cracked slightly as he spoke.

Gingka growled under his breath. "My mind is already made up…" he raised his head, eyes suddenly glowing brilliant blue. "Pegasus, full power!"

"Then you take the deal… This is goodbye then." Pegasus said calmly. "We will meet again."

Ryo and the others gasped as Gingka's silver and blue bey suddenly split into millions of glowing blue particles.

* * *

**Hehehe... M'not at all sorry for that. There was a reason the deal was mentioned! And this was it. It was in the story in the first place because Gingka was ultimately going to take it, like Pegasus said. And then cliffhanger, because I can and I wanted to. Until next time, Galaxy out!**


	6. Battle

**Welp, I'm back! A week late due to a Caribbean cruise I just got back from, but I'm back! And with a double update too, since I did get both chapters done! Enjoy... The suspense!**

* * *

"Gingka?! What's going on?!" Madoka yelped, watching the shower of blue sparks in shock.

"What?!" Rago growled as Gingka's body absorbed the blue lights that had been Pegasus.

A single tear slid down the redhead's cheek before he raised his head, looking Rago directly in the eyes. Gingka could feel, more than ever before, his own power, and that of Pegasus. It was coursing through his veins now, pulsating in time to his heartbeat. A slight smile crossed his lips as a whinny echoed in his mind.

Rago growled, his eyes pulsating and glowing brighter red before he flew at Gingka, as if desperate to stop the redhead from doing something.

Time seemed to slow, as Rago drew back one hand, gathering a blast of dark energy which he fired at... Nothing?

"Looking for me?" Gingka asked, standing behind the dark blader, a smirk on his face.

"Did he just..." Kenta gasped.

"Escape?!" Kyoya finished, his jaw hanging wide open.

"Impossible." Rago growled. "You can't be able to fully use it that fast."

"We'll see." Gingka narrowed his eyes as a blue light seemed to appear behind them.

"What's going on?" Ryo asked.

"In short, there's a power I was apparently able to obtain... But it's going to cost." Gingka sighed. "I'm sorry... But it was the only choice. I tried to avoid it, but Pegasus was right... It had to be done."

The others looked confused, but Gingka ignored any further questioning, leaping into action. Something in the back of his mind told him that he had very limited time to defeat Rago.

"Die!" Rago roared, his body suddenly lengthening and thickening, much to the surprise of Gingka and the others. Within seconds, while Gingka remained frozen in confusion, Rago had turned into the all-too-familiar dragon that they had previously known as Nemesis.

"Fools!" Rago roared. "I wasn't even using all of my power. Now die!" he breathed dark flames at the group.

Madoka and Hikaru closed their eyes, tensing and awaiting imminent death, but it never came. They felt heat, but no flames.

"G-Gingka?!" Ryo exclaimed.

Those who had closed their eyes opened them, gasping as well. A pair of wings, with what Ryo guessed to be a ten foot wingspan, had suddenly sprouted from Gingka's back and was spread to its fullest extent, blocking the flames, much to Rago's frustration.

"This ends now." Gingka said determinedly, his eyes shining in the light from the flames as he flapped his wings, putting the flames out with a strong gust of wind.

"No." Rago growled. "You are still powerless against me!"

"We'll see." Gingka smirked slightly, fighting back tears at the thought of what he knew this would do. He glanced back, to his friends and father, then looked back to Rago as his eyes steeled with cold, hard determination.

"The only thing that ends today is the lives of you and your pathetic friends." Rago growled.

"Go… Gingka…" Madoka muttered.

In an instant, Gingka leapt towards Rago. Rago reacted, leaping into the air and diving for Gingka. Ryo picked up Zero and ran far back, calling to the others to follow him. They ran until Gingka and Rago were barely in sight. Just as they turned back, an enormous explosion occurred, and the figures of both Gingka and puwere visible as they flew back. Rago soon recovered his balance, hovering in the air, while Gingka, who wasn't used to his wings, crashed to the ground. However, the redhead was back up in an instant, darting for Rago once more.

"We should get out of here…" Hikaru muttered.

"But we can't leave Gingka." Ryo said determinedly. Madoka nodded.

"Zero needs help. He's injured." Kenta pointed out.

"Then take him to the hospital." Ryo said.

"But what about Gingka?" Kyoya asked.

"I don't think there's anything we can do to help him now." Madoka whispered. "He's just… Gone to a whole new level… And I don't think we can follow."

"You have no clue…"

The group whirled, but saw no one.

"What was that…?" Madoka asked slowly.

"I don't know." Ryo muttered, turning back to watch the battle as Gingka rebounded off a building and flew at Rago.

Rago punched Gingka in the stomach, causing the redhead to double over in pain before recovering in a surprisingly short amount of time and kicking Rago in the neck.

"What if… Gingka dies?" Madoka whimpered in fear.

"He won't."

The group again whirled, looking for the source of the voice that echoed powerfully, yet quietly; in their ears, yet in their minds at the same time.

"That's kinda creepy." Madoka muttered.

"Sorry… I can't help it that my voice does this. Well, I can, but now is not the time to speak in a… less… weird? voice."

"Who are you?!" Ryo challenged, but no reply came for several minutes.

A loud roar of anger from Rago attracted the group's attention, and they sighed shakily as they saw that Gingka had kicked his opponent into the air. However, Rago soon recovered, and cove down strongly on Gingka, who narrowly dodged, causing Rago to crash into the ground.

"Worm!" Rago roared angrily.

"Oh, shut up." Gingka replied, flying at Rago again.

The deal…

Rago growled angrily and braced himself, beginning to create a giant ball of energy in his hands. Gingka continued attacking, fearlessly.

When he took it...

Sparks flew from Gingka's hands as he attacked. The redhead glanced down in surprise before making a punching motion with his hand, his eyes widening as he fired off a bolt of blue energy at Rago.

Everything changed…

Rago narrowly dodged, firing dark energy back. Gingka ducked underneath it, then dove to the side as debris fell from the building behind him.

Never again will he battle in the way that he did before…

Gingka threw some of the debris at Rago in an attempt to knock him out.

But he will always be able to protect his friends…

Rago narrowly dodged, only for another piece of debris to hit him in the forehead, sending him stumbling back slightly.

From all things but one…

Gingka smirked slightly, flapping his wings and sending a shower of debris at Rago.

He can't protect them from death…

Rago growled, then roared fiercely and darted for Gingka, ignoring the debris.

They will die eventually…

Gingka braced himself, sliding automatically into a deep battle stance.

But until then…

Rago collided with Gingka.

They will be safe…

Surprisingly, Gingka held his ground, while Rago was the one sent flying in the resulting explosion.

But it's not over yet…

Gingka leapt for Rago again, determined to defeat him.

He only has a few minutes…

Rago recovered his balance and growled.

Before the true transformation begins…

Rago flew at Gingka with an angered roar.

And then…

Gingka flapped his wings, a gust of wind blowing Rago back.

Everything that he is now…

Rago rebounded off a large rock and flew at Gingka again.

Will change…

Gingka fired off several bolts of energy, beginning to feel slightly dizzy.

The Gingka that they knew…

Rago roared, staggering backwards from the force of the impact.

"Finish it, Gingka!" Ryo shouted.

Will change…

Gingka launched at Rago, determined to finish it, just as his father had said.

Everything they knew…

An enormous explosion blew Rago back, and the dark man soon disappeared into a shower of sparks. The next instant, Gingka collapsed.

"Gingka!" the others rushed to him.

Will. Change.

* * *

**Dun dun duuuuun! Hehehe... See you all next chapter, which I'll get up ASAP. Galaxy out!**


	7. Transformation

**And here's chapter 2 for the day. Enjoy! Oh, and... The deal gets explained here basically in full. ;)**

* * *

"Gingka!"

Ryo and the others rushed to the side of the fallen redhead, whose wings had disappeared.

"_Stand back, all of you!_"

Ryo and Madoka yelped as a strong gust of wind blew them all several feet back, just as Gingka was mysteriously lifted into the air, sparks of glowing blue energy swirling around him.

"What's going on?!" Ryo demanded, scrambling back to his feet and watching.

"_The true transformation is only beginning. But do not worry._"

"How can we not worry?!" Madoka shouted angrily. "How do we know we can even trust you on this?! We don't even know who you are!"

A heavy sigh echoed. "_I know. And it must remain that way for a while longer. I told him that I was Pegasus, but that is not exactly the actual case here. But, he did not need to know more than he did, and he too shall find out the information that I have just given... In time. For now, he sleeps."_

"What in the world are you talking about?! What are you doing to him?!" Kyoya snarled.

"_I am doing absolutely nothing to him. It is what he has done that you should be concerned with._"

"What in the world are you talking about?!" Kenta growled, beginning to reach for his launcher.

"_He took a deal. The only way that I am involved in this is that I'm the one who told him about the deal. How Rago learned of it, I am not sure. But that does not matter now. Rago has once again been sealed, and will not come back for at least the next thousand years, and probably longer than that._"

"And what exactly were the terms of this 'deal' you refer to?!" Ryo exclaimed.

"_You are not seeing to the injuries of his protege. He won't be happy about that when he wakes up if anything happens."_

"Don't change the subject! Madoka, Hikaru, take Zero and Kenta and go to the hospital. Tsubasa, Kyoya, and I will handle this." Ryo said.

Madoka cast one last, sorrowful glance at Gingka before nodding and darting off, with Kenta and Hikaru close behind. Kenta swiftly but gently scooped up Zero in his arms and they ran off. Ryo, Tsubasa, and Kyoya stationed themselves in a circle around Gingka, looking for the source of the mysterious voice.

"What was the deal, exactly?!" Tsubasa demanded, looking around.

"_You three sure are persistent. Rago likely thought that this deal would give him infinite power, but that is not entirely true. What is true is that it gives a blader more power than is even possible with a bey normally, but this power costs a great price, one which I am sure you already know."_

"Not exactly." Kyoya snarled, Leone already in his hand.

"_For Gingka to gain this power, Pegasus had to disappear. That is the cost. He will never beybattle again, to be honest. For one thing, he no longer has a bey, and for another, his power is now so great that practically nothing can defeat him, as long as he keeps his head up._"

"Is that it?! Gingka was never one to be power-hungry, I know that!" Tsubasa exclaimed.

"_No, he wasn't. And he never will be. Trust me, the last thing he planned on doing when he came here was taking that deal, even though I warned him that there was no other option. Yet there he is, the deal taken and over. It is done. There is no going back He took it to protect you and the others, nothing more. Yet, by taking it, he will eventually lose you. You will all go to a place where, as a result of the deal, he will likely never follow."_

"What are you talking about?!"

"_Death. Eventually, all of you will die. He will not. Well, not of natural causes, that is."_

"Meaning..." Tsubasa trailed off.

"_Correct. When the transformation is complete, he will be practically immortal, a fact which I believe I neglected to mention to him. But he will know in time. However, he can still die."_

"So he's not immortal." Ryo said confusedly.

"_No, he is immortal._"

"Then how come he can still die?!" Tsubasa sweatdropped.

"_I said he could not die of natural causes. He can be killed, but if he avoids lethal injuries, he will not die."_

"So someone else would have to basically murder him?! Otherwise he's immortal?!" Ryo's jaw dropped.

"_Pretty much..._"

"I can't believe this." Kyoya growled.

"_Would you believe it if you saw it?!"_ the voice snapped.

Kyoya growled. "Perhaps."

"_Well then suck it up, kitty cat, because you aren't going to live long enough to see it happen. The deal is not available to you, at least not to my knowledge."_

"Don't call me kitty cat!" Kyoya snarled. Ryo and Tsubasa bit back a snicker at the Leone blader's anger.

"_Whatever... I must leave now, but there is at least one more thing you should know._"

"And that is?" Kyoya spat.

"_Right now, he is highly vulnerable. Like I said, he can be killed, but right now he is also comatose, and will be for, well, likely a few years. The transformation takes a very long time. Any injuries he sustains will heal at a slightly faster than normal pace, but should a lethal blow be landed, he will die, and he obviously cannot protect himself. Many enemies will likely try to attack him. Do not let him be killed."_

"As if you needed to tell us that." Kyoya growled.

"Calm down, Kyoya." Ryo sighed. "But we still don't know if we can even trust you. At least show yourself! Why do you know so much about all of this?!"

Silence fell for a few moments. Ryo and the others remained tense, looking around for any sign of movement other than themselves and Gingka.

"_How... Do I know about the deal..?_"

Ryo nodded slightly, then gasped as something flew past him, mere inches from his face. He and the other two whirled, just in time to see a cloaked figure reach out his arms and catch Gingka out of the air as the redhead suddenly fell.

"_That is not important right now. Zero Kurogane is not the only one who needs medical care right now. Gingka's condition is becoming rather unstable. Normal medical procedures should be able to keep him alive, but you must hurry."_ the figure stepped over to Ryo with slow, heavy steps. Only his arms, which held Gingka securely, were visible, clad in black leather gauntlets with blue fingerless gloves. The rest of him was hidden underneath the many folds of the cloak he wore.

"_Take him. And do not let him die. I must return to my home. We will meet again after he has awakened, but that will not be for quite some time._"

"Who are you...?" Ryo breathed.

"_The only name you need know to refer to me by is Pegasus._"

"But you said you weren't Pegasus!" Kyoya snapped, ready to lunge at the figure.

"_I said that was not exactly the actual case. I am Pegasus. However, I am not the bey Pegasus. That is all." _Pegasus said as he carefully transferred Gingka to Ryo's arms before stepping back, turning his head and scanning over the group.

"_We will meet again. But for now, it is goodbye._" he said before crouching slightly and then springing into the air, over a building and out of sight completely.

"To the hospital... Now!" Ryo exclaimed, rushing off. Kyoya and Tsubasa stood frozen for a moment, then shook off their shock and followed Ryo.

"So it begins..." Pegasus muttered as he stood atop a building near the hospital, watching through two separate windows as Zero was cared for while Gingka was rushed to the ICU. "My part in this, for now, is over. I suppose I should leave and let them handle the rest... Until we meet again."

* * *

"Mr. Hagane?! Why are you here so fast?" Madoka asked.

Ryo sighed heavily. "Long story. How's Zero?"

"He's got a bad concussion, but they said he'll be fine... Gingka...?"

"He's unstable." Ryo muttered. "Apparently, according to that guy, we have to really guard him. He's vulnerable at this point."

"Will he be okay?" Madoka asked worriedly.

"I don't know. Pegasus, as he apparently calls himself, said that Gingka should be okay, but I don't know." Ryo sighed. "It sounds like it's mostly a matter of keeping him stable and safe."

"You...Believed this guy?"

"Madoka, as far as I see it, we don't have much of a choice when it comes to trusting him. He's the only one wo seems to know anything about what's happening to Gingka, as far as I can see." Ryo sighed. "We'll have the hospital keep a close eye on him and he will, hopefully, be fine."

Madoka sighed heavily. "Alright... But still, I wish we knew more about this guy. He seems a bit too mysterious to me."

"I know... But we have no choice." Ryo sighed. "Until we know more, we have no choice..." the redhead looked down, sniffling.

"O-okay..." Madoka muttered under her breath, yawning.

"It's late... You should go home. I'll stay here." Ryo sighed.

Madoka shook her head. "I can't... I can't leave until I know whether or not he'll be okay..."

"Me neither..." Ryo muttered. "I suppose I'll ask for a couple of blankets or something..."

Madoka nodded and sat down in a chair, watching through the window as it continued to rain. Ryo soon came back with a couple of blankets, and handed one to Madoka before sitting down. The brunette wrapped the fabric around herself, drawing her knees to her chest as she watched the doors that led to the ICU.

"Relax." Ryo said, noticing the tense mood of the mechanic. "They'll tell us if something happens."

"I almost wish something would... I just want to know..." Madoka sniffled.

Ryo put an arm around the young woman, pulling her close. "He'll be fine... He has to be."

"Mr. Hagane?" A nurse entered the room. Ryo and Madoka instantly stood.

"Your son has been stabilized. He is completely comatose, but otherwise, he is fine."

"Can we see him?" Ryo asked breathlessly.

"Yes. He is in the ICU, room 307." the nurse replied. "Right through those doors, straight left and all the way down the hall."

"Thank you." Ryo muttered as he and Madoka half-ran to the room the nurse had named.

Once the two had arrived, they found Gingka laying limply in a bed, his face pale, breathing slightly uneven, pulse weak yet steady. Ryo pulled up a chair next to Gingka's bed and sat down, taking one of the younger Hagane's hands in his own.

"This... All happened so fast..." Madoka whispered, pulling up a chair on the other side of Gingka's bed.

"Within about two hours..." Ryo muttered. "We only got to your house two hours ago..."

Madoka reached out and brushed a few loose strands of Gingka's hair out of his face, her own breathing shaky as a few tears fell from her eyes.

"How could this have happened...? So fast..."

"Sometimes things just happen..." Ryo muttered. "We never see it coming... But it happens and we have to just deal with it..."

"How long will he have to be like this...?"

"Hmm?"

"That guy... Pegasus...? Said he was merely sleeping... He mentioned him waking up... How long..?"

"He.. Said it could be a few years..." Ryo muttered. "And warned that there may be attackers who would try to kill Gingka while he's vulnerable."

"Years...?" Madoka whispered. "He could be like this for years?"

Ryo sighed. "If what that Pegasus guy said is true, yes. Something about a transformation happening that will take a while..."

Madoka sniffled and laid her head on the pillow next to Gingka's head. "Wake up... Please..." she muttered wearily. Yet no response came, and none would for a long time.

After waiting for several days, Ryo was forced to return to his job in Tokyo, leaving Madoka and the others to take turns keeping some sort of watch over Gingka. It was true that sitting and waiting to see if the redhead would wake up was unnecessary, but Madoka found some comfort in knowing that someone familiar was there with Gingka, and that she would be called if anything happened.

* * *

"Zero, can you hear me?"

"Hnnnnn...?"

"Shinobu, he's awake!"

The cream-haired blader looked up from polishing Salamander, then set the bey and cloth to the side and stood, coming over to Zero's bedside.

"What... happened?" Zero muttered dizzily.

"Apparently you got a concussion somehow, but that's all that anyone would tell us." Ren replied with a frown. "Anything more you can tell us about what happened? What's the last thing you remember?"

Zero narrowed his eyes slightly in thought. Ren and Shinobu waited patiently for an answer, but nearly jumped out of their skins when Zero's eyes widened and he gasped, trembling.

"What is it?!" Shinobu asked nervously.

"Rago... He was... Where's Gingka?!" Zero tried to sit up, but the other two forced him back down.

"We haven't seen him. Madoka told us he was busy or something." Ren said.

"He wasn't okay the last time I saw him! He has to be in the hospital somewhere!"

"Calm down, Zero." Shinobu said firmly. "Calm down and tell us what happened."

"We were at Madoka's house." Zero panted. "Gingka came outside and told me that Nemesis was back and that he was going to fight him, alone. He said not to follow, but eventually I told Madoka and we all took off to find him. When we got there, Gingka was being tossed around, and Nemesis wanted to kill us, then Gingka. The last thing I remember is Nemesis flinging me back while Gingka was trapped by some sort of dark power. He was injured."

"Who else was there?" Ren asked. "We'll find them and ask them."

"There was Director Ootori, Gingka's dad, two of the other legendary bladers, and Mr. Hagane's secretary." Zero said.

"Alright. You relax, and we'll go find them." Ren said, getting up.

"I'll go. Ren, you stay here with Zero." Shinobu said.

"O-okay." Ren said nervouly.

"No need for that." a familiar voice sighed as Tsubasa entered the room.

"Director?" Ren said.

"Since you've heard the first part of the story from Zero, I may as well tell you the rest, and the truth." Tsubasa sighed.

The three younger bladers looked nervous at this. Tsubasa took a deep breath and began.

"To start, don't worry about Rago. Gingka did manage to defeat him, but to do so, he had to take some sort of weird deal that was offered to him by a mysterious figure who only gave us Pegasus as his name. We don't know anything about him other than that. This deal left Gingka comatose for, as Pegasus said, likely a few years, but then again, we don't know who this guy is or if we can trust him. Mr. Hagane said that we have to trust his word for it, since he's the only one who knows anything about this, or seems to. Right now Gingka's in the ICU, under Benkei's watch. I came up here for a bit to check on you guys before taking over for Benkei."

"Will he be okay...?" Zero asked in a frightened whisper.

"We don't know. Right now, he's doing fine, I think. He's not entirely stable on his own, but the doctors say that they can keep him stable for, well, as long as they need to, hopefully." Tsubasa sighed.

"Can we see him?" Shinobu asked.

Tsubasa paused for a moment, thinking. "I'm not sure. Shinobu and Ren, you probably can, but I don't know if it's okay for Zero to move around yet. I have to go now. Benkei is expecting me."

"We'll go find a nurse and ask for you." Shinobu said as Tsubasa left the room.

Zero nodded slightly, his mind now filled with worry for Gingka. Whatever Gingka's full condition was, it couldn't be good from what Tsubasa had described. The Ifrit wielder knew that the Pegasus wielder had been injured, likely badly, from his battle with Rago, and now he was also comatose. The thought sent shivers down Zero's spine and gave him an uneasy, restless feeling. Despite the splitting headache and weak feeling in his limbs, Zero couldn't just lie still knowing that Gingka was doing much worse than he was.

Ren watched the black-haired blader worriedly. She could see the heavy amount of distress in his eyes, as his brain tried to process the information it had just been given.

Zero glanced over as a hand was laid on his cheek. Ren smiled gently at him.

"Just relax. It'll be okay." the blonde said.

"How do you know...?" Zero asked.

Ren paused, frowning. "Shut up and be optimistic, would you?!"

Zero blinked, then sighed and smiled slightly at Ren. "Sorry... I suppose this headache is getting to me."

Ren leaned forwards and kissed Zero gently on the forehead, leaving the Ifrit blader blinking in shock.

"Did that make it better?" She giggled.

Zero blushed. "U-umm..."

Ren ruffled his hair gently. "Well, even if it didn't..." she chuckled again, sitting back down in the chair next to his bed and taking his hand in hers. "You'll be fine."

"I know." Zero sighed. "It's not me I'm worried about."

"Well, Shinobu will find out for us if you're allowed to get up and go see him. I'm sure he'll be fine too." Ren said. "For now, just rest."

Zero sighed again and closed his eyes as Ren stroked his forehead gently.

* * *

Stars. They were everywhere, in every color of the rainbow, spiraling in various patterns. The sound of whinnying echoed softly as a pair of golden-brown eyes opened.

"Where... Am I?" Gingka muttered, looking around. A slight wind blew his hair back and out of his face, and he felt as if something were pulling him backwards. Looking back, he soon spotted a large pair of wings spread behind him. Experimentally, he moved them around, watching as they obeyed his commands. He reached one hand back and brushed his fingertips against the shining blue feathers, shivering slightly at the unfamiliar feeling.

"This... Will take some getting used to."

"_You will have plenty of time to get used to it._"

"How long?" Gingka asked, looking around.

"_To get used to the feeling, it will take a longer time than you will be here for. To learn your new abilities, that may take even longer. It will all depend."_

"On what?"

"_How quickly you can learn._"

"How long will I be here? And what about the others?"

"_To all outward appearances, you are in a coma. You will be that way for quite some time._ _That is all that your friends know about your condition right now._"

"How long will I be here?" Gingka repeated.

"_Five years."_

* * *

**Hehehe... Suspense, the deal's been explained now, and we're headed for a timeskip!-because really, I'm not going to write out all five years. I'll summarize anything important that happens in the next chapter, which is 2/3 of the way written as of the moment I'm typing this. Yay for vacation writing time! See you all next weekend, and Galaxy out!**


	8. Awakening

**I'm back! Lots of summary at the beginning of this chapter, because although I'm not going to write out five years of storyline, I am going to summarize a few things that happened. So enjoy! **

* * *

Five years. In the span of all human history, that is not a very long time. However, when you are waiting for something, it may seem like an eternity. When you are waiting for someone, it seems even longer.

For about a year, Madoka, Tsubasa, and Benkei, in addition to Zero, Shinobu, and Ren, took turns sitting with Gingka. Needless to say, with nothing changing in the redhead's condition, it wasn't the most exciting of jobs, and the group found it rather draining to sit there hour after hour, day in and day out, week after week, watching for something that seemed like it would never come. Therefore, after about a year and a half, they left it to the hospital staff to watch Gingka, returning to their normal daily activities and agreeing to just roll with whatever happened to Gingka.

In the meantime, Madoka continued running the B-Pit, Tsubasa continued with his tournament planning, and Benkei continued making burgers. Zero and his friends continued blading, but those who knew the Ifrit wielder best could see that the fire in his eyes and attack patterns was not quite as bright as it had been before.

Ren, in particular, wanted that flame to return. She challenged Zero consistently, trying to make her own flames shine brightly despite the fact that she, too, was worried about the comatose redhead laying in the hospital.

However, the only thing they could do was wait, so that was exactly what they did. In the meantime, they lived their lives to the fullest, battling and making their friendships even stronger. Shortly after they had both turned 18, Zero and Ren got married to each other, with all of their friends watching. After the wedding, Zero remarked that the only thing that could have made that day better was if Gingka had been there to see it. Ren gave her now-husband a sympathetic look and kissed him gently, but deeply, for a few seconds before pulling away and telling him to not worry about it.

Madoka soon found herself merely going through the motions, day in and day out. To all outward appearances, she was a successful businesswoman and bey mechanic who couldn't possibly be happier. But those who knew her best knew otherwise. They alone saw the tear streaks down her cheeks that she was trying to hide underneath layers of makeup and a fake smile. They alone saw the worried look behind her eyes, the sparkle that was missing in the turquoise pools. But Madoka could do nothing but wait and visit Gingka from time to time.

"B-Pit, this is Maru, how may I help you? Oh, hey Zero! How's it going? … Uh, yeah, I suppose I am a bit too used to answering the B-Pit phone." Maru chuckled sheepishly, scratching her cheek and frowning at the small amount of makeup that came off under her fingernail.

Madoka, sitting nearby and repairing a bey, chuckled under her breath at her protege's awkwardness.

"Okay Zero, calm down! Sheesh! Now repeat that, and slowly. I couldn't hear you."

Madoka set down the bey she was repairing and glanced over at Maru, watching as the young girl, now a teenager, widened her eyes bit by bit before placing a hand over her mouth for a moment.

"Yeah, I'll tell her. We'll be there in a second. Thanks Zero." Maru said before hanging up and turning to Madoka, who had stood and looked frightened.

"What did he say? Has something happened?" Madoka asked. "Is Ren having her baby already?"

"No." Maru replied breathlessly. "It's Gingka."

Madoka tensed.

"He's woken up." Maru said, smiling slightly at the spark that ignited in Madoka's eyes before the brunette rushed out the door, bey repairs entirely forgotten. Maru chuckled under her breath, grabbing her keys and locking the B-Pit up before following after her mentor.

By the time the two arrived at the hospital, Zero, Ren, Shinobu, Tsubasa, and Benkei were already there, waiting for them in the lobby.

"Where is he?" Madoka asked breathlessly.

"Calm down, Madoka." Tsubasa said sternly. "We were just heading up there, but were waiting for you. Take a few deep breaths and calm down. You're shaking."

Madoka sighed shakily as she followed the others down the hallway. She was rather relieved when they walked past the ICU, rather than going into it. The brunette glared slightly at the doors that she had come to dread over the past five years.

After a few minutes of walking, Tsubasa paused in front of a door, his hand trembling slightly as he reached for the handle. The silver-haired man took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping inside.

"Gingka...?" Madoka breathed, stepping closer to the figure laying on the bed. Her nervous turquoise soon met with calm golden-brown as Gingka turned his head slightly and smiled through the oxygen mask covering the lower half of his face.

"Long five years...?" The redhead muttered.

That was all it took for Madoka to break down sobbing. The brunette practically flung herself on Gingka, burying her face in his chest and sobbing.

"So long..." Madoka whispered, hugging Gingka as if she would never let go again. "So, so long..."

"I'm sorry..." Gingka muttered, putting one frail arm over her back. Zero's eyes widened at how weak the redhead was. Gingka looked around, scanning the group with his eyes.

"... Did I miss something?" He asked as his eyes fell on the now heavily-pregnant Ren, who looked slightly sheepish. Zero looked at the ceiling, whistling and avoiding eye contact.

"Well, you two... Have been busy... I take it?" Gingka said with a chuckle.

"They got married almost a year ago." Tsubasa chuckled awkwardly.

Gingka blinked. "Very busy then."

"W-we're sorry..." Zero muttered. "We wanted you to be there, but we didn't know when you would wake up, so..."

"Don't worry about it." Gingka sighed. "I might be the only one in the room who knew when I would wake up... I'm glad you two went ahead and did it. Wouldn't... Want you to wait... For me. Don't let me keep you from doing anything."

Zero nodded, trying to fight back tears.

"Well, five years of laying around didn't do much for your muscle tone. We'll have to work on that." Benkei said, trying to break through the heavy curtain of awkwardness that seemed to be invading the group.

Gingka rolled his eyes. "Eventually. I have to be able to walk first."

"How long until you'll be back to some sort of normal state?" Ren asked.

"The doctor said it'd likely be nearly a year before that happened. I plan on half the time." Gingka said casually.

"Don't you dare hurt yourself." Madoka growled under her breath.

"I won't." Gingka promised. "But, I should warn you... I'll never be truly 'normal' again."

"I... Think we sorta knew that much." Tsubasa sighed.

"How much do you know?" Gingka asked.

"Well, that you're immortal for one, although you can be killed by someone."

Gingka nodded. "Basically, apparently. No clue why Pegasus neglected to tell me that, but whatever."

Madoka sat back, taking one of Gingka's hands in hers and trying to not think about how frail he was. She suddenly gasped, dropping his hand and jumping back in shock and fright.

"What is it?!" Benkei asked, startled at the brunette's sudden actions.

Gingka chuckled. "She felt it. I can't control it, but she felt it."

"Felt what?" Zero asked slowly.

Gingka shakily reached out a hand towards the Ifrit blader. "Take my hand and you'll see."

Zero slowly and uncertainly reached over and grabbed Gingka's hand, his eyes widening.

"What is it?" Benkei demanded to know.

"Power... Raw, wild power... It's... Coursing through him?" Zero looked to Gingka, who nodded.

"That'd be whatever power I gained from that deal." The redhead sighed. "I haven't the slightest clue how to use it, but it's there. I was told just before I woke up that I had to find Pegasus and ask him about it."

"Then how did you use it against Rago?"

"Pure instinct. And that wasn't really the actual power. That was before the full transformation, a mere glimpse of what I should now be able to do. If I had to fight again, I wouldn't be able to repeat that."

"In time then. Pegasus told me, Kyoya, and your dad that we would meet again. I'll bet that he meant after you woke up." Tsubasa said.

"Speaking of Mr. Hagane, has anyone told him yet that Gingka's awake?" Maru asked.

Tsubasa paused, looking sheepish. "I, uh... Called Zero and then Benkei... And then I came here... I entirely forgot..."

The others animefell. Gingka snorted.

"Give me the phone. I'll do it." the redhead said.

"With an oxygen mask on?" Benkei raised an eyebrow.

"I'll take it off."

"You still need it."

"Nah."

"Gingka..." Madoka said in a warning tone.

"I'll be fine, just give me the phone." Gingka said in a surprisingly forceful tone.

Tsubasa sighed and handed the redhead his phone. Gingka took it shakily, then pulled at the mask over his face, but found that he was unable to take it off. Benkei did so for him, much to Madoka's discomfort, allowing Gingka to dial the phone.

"I'm going to have to work on this shaking." Gingka muttered as he waited for his father to answer the phone.

"Tsubasa? Why are you calling me?" Ryo's voice soon came.

"Not Tsubasa, dad." Gingka said simply.

Ryo gasped sharply, nearly dropping his phone as he put his free hand to his mouth in surprise, a few tears falling. This attracted Kenta and Hikaru's attention, as the two looked slightly alarmed.

Gingka chuckled under his breath, narrowing his eyes slightly as he suddenly noticed that his vision was clouding over slightly from lack of oxygen.

"You're awake..." Ryo whispered.

"Yup." Gingka said.

Ryo sighed deeply in relief and sat down. Kenta and Hikaru waited, keeping their eyes on the older Hagane.

"How are you feeling?" Ryo asked.

"Just a bit weak, but I'm fine." Gingka said.

"Well, weakness is to be expected, since you haven't moved in five years." Ryo said, trying to calm himself down.

"Gingka's awake?" Kenta guessed, grinning widely when Ryo nodded.

"I'll get a helicopter ready." Hikaru said, sending the order from her tablet.

"Yeah." Gingka chuckled, shaking his head slightly to ward off the dizziness.

"We'll be there in about an hour or so." Ryo said.

"Alright..." Gingka muttered, his voice slurring slightly.

Ryo narrowed his eyes slightly as he heard a scuffling noise followed by a thud. "Gingka?"

"Sorry about that. He dropped the phone and we had to put the oxygen mask back on him so that he wouldn't lose consciousness." Tsubasa's voice came.

"Oxygen mask...?" Ryo said slowly.

"Yeah. He's... Extremely weak, but should be alright." Tsubasa sighed. "Apparently he can't breathe enough to maintain consciousness on his own for long. He insisted that we take off the mask so that he could call you."

"I see... Don't take it off him again. I'm on my way." Ryo said.

"No worries. We'll handle things here until you arrive." Tsubasa sighed. "See you in a bit."

"Yeah." Ryo sighed.

Tsubasa hung up and sighed heavily, looking back over at Gingka, who had closed his eyes and was trying to breathe deeply. Madoka had slipped an arm under the redhead's back and was sitting on the bed next to him, holding him close and stroking his hair, her eyes still filled with disbelief at the fact that the event she had been waiting for for the last five years had finally happened.

It took Ryo nearly two hours to arrive at the hospital. By the time he got there, Gingka had fallen asleep in Madoka's arms, and Tsubasa and Benkei had returned to their homes to sleep. Zero was sitting in a chair, with Ren asleep in his arms.

Madoka looked up as Ryo entered the room, looking rather wearied. The brunette smiled tiredly at the older Hagane, then returned her attention to the one in her arms. Gingka groaned slightly in his sleep, shifting position slightly. Ryo sighed worriedly, instantly noticing Gingka's overall weak appearance.

"I'm... Almost afraid that I'll break him..." Madoka admitted.

"I can see why..." Ryo muttered sorrowfully.

"The doctors say that he'll be alright, he just has to regain muscle mass and normal bodily functions... But it'll take a while for him to be able to function normally." Madoka sighed, laying Gingka down in the bed and moving herself to a chair.

"At least he's still alive and will be alright." Ryo said, sitting in another chair nearby.

"True." Madoka sighed.

"You should sleep. You look as tired as he does." Ryo said.

Madoka shook her head. "I'm still taking it in… All of it…"

Ryo chuckled quietly. "He'll be awake tomorrow as well."

"Hopefully…" Madoka whispered.

"No pessimism…. I'll be awake…"

Madoka blinked in surprise and looked down. "Feeling better?"

Gingka nodded, smiling at her. Madoka sighed in relief and hugged him gently. Gingka hugged back, shakily rubbing Madoka's back.

"Sleep, Madoka…"the redhead whispered. "Just sleep."

"O-Okay…" Madoka sniffled and laid down on a nearby couch. She was asleep almost before she had settled down completely. Ryo laid a blanket over the young woman, gently ruffling her hair before turning to Gingka.

"Well, long time no see."

Gingka chuckled softly. "Yeah… Sorry about that…"

Ryo sat down in a chair and ruffled Gingka's hair, much to the younger Hagane's annoyance.

"M'not a kid anymore…" Gingka huffed.

"I know, but that doesn't mean that I can't do that. You're still my son, after all." Ryo chuckled.

Gingka rolled his eyes. "Whatever… Help me up?"

Ryo blinked. "You're kidding me. You don't have the strength to even breathe on your own, let alone stand."

An amused glint appeared in Gingka's eyes. "Supposedly."

Ryo crossed his arms sternly. "Gingka, no.'

"Alright then, I'll do it myself."

Before Ryo could react, Gingka was laying in a heap on the ground.

"Ow…" The redhead groaned.

Ryo blinked, then sweatdropped. "I told you no."

Gingka raised his head slightly. "I can do this."

"Gingka, no. You're not allowed to even try or you'll hurt yourself." Ryo said, lifting Gingka up and putting him back in the bed.

Gingka pouted, rather childishly for a 26-year-old man. Ryo sweatdropped.

"Quit being a baby, Gingka."

"I am not being a baby." Gingka protested.

"Yes you are, now shut up and go back to sleep."

"Don't wanna."

"Don't make me get a doctor to sedate you." Ryo threatened.

Gingka sighed. "Fine…" He whined.

Ryo shook his head and chuckled. "Oh, grow up. You're acting like a whiny three year old."

"I am not!" Gingka protested.

"Shut up and go to sleep, Gingka." Madoka muttered.

Gingka pouted once again. "I've been sleeping for the last five years…"

"Go to sleep." Ryo and Madoka both demanded.

Gingka groaned in annoyance. "But I'm not tired!"

"Then stay in bed or I will call a nurse to sedate you." Ryo threatened.

"Fine." Gingka huffed angrily, crossing his arms.

"Good boy." Ryo chuckled, patting Gingka on the head.

"Hey! I'm not a dog either!" Gingka protested.

Ryo and Madoka laughed.

* * *

**Welp, that's all for this chapter. Tell me what you guys think about everything! Until next time, Galaxy out! **


	9. Liberators

**Here it is! Chapter 9 and I think I've gotten my main plot off to a good start now. Enjoy, peeps!**

**Gingka:... Peeps?**

* * *

"Mr. Hagane, wake up!"

"Hmm…?" Ryo muttered sleepily as he woke up to Madoka shaking him.

"What is it, Madoka…?"

"Gingka's gone!"

Ryo leapt to his feet, suddenly wide awake. Just as Madoka had said, Gingka was nowhere in sight. Ryo groaned. "Come on, let's go find him."

The two stepped out into the hallway, looking up and down it.

"He's been awake for two days." Ryo groaned. "How could he have disappeared already?!"

"He's Gingka…?"

"He was too weak to even breathe on his own! He can't have just gotten up and left!" Ryo groaned, pulling out his phone and calling Tsubasa.

"WBBA headquarters, this is Tsubasa Otori."

"Tsubasa. It's Ryo. Do you know where Gingka is?"

"... Isn't he there with you?"

"No. He's disappeared."

Tsubasa's mouth dropped open in shock. "How in the world…?!"

"We don't know." Ryo sighed, running his fingers through his hair in exasperation.

"Well, I hope you find him. I'll send some WBBA agents to find him." Tsubasa said.

"Call Benkei? I'm going to call the police." Ryo sighed.

"Perhaps you should call the hospital staff first. He can't have gone far in his condition." Tsubasa said.

"Alright." Ryo sighed. "See you later." he hung up.

"I'll go to the front desk and tell them." Madoka said, walking off.

"I'll look around this hallway." Ryo said, walking in the opposite direction. His mind was filled with worry for his son, as images of the redhead in his weak state flashed in Ryo's mind. The older Hagane growled under his breath, wondering what he had done wrong that made Gingka so reckless. He walked quickly up and down the hallways, peering into every room, every corner. But Gingka wasn't there.

"Where could he have gone so quickly…?" Ryo sighed. The Fireblaze wielder blinked and looked at his phone as it rang, then answered. "Tsubasa?"

"Apparently Gingka's at Bull Burger with Benkei." Tsubasa said.

"He's… What?!" Ryo exclaimed, his jaw dropping open. "But… That's… That's halfway across the city!"

"Well, apparently he somehow managed to get halfway across the city." Tsubasa sighed. "Benkei made him go lie down in the back room where it's quiet."

"I see." Ryo sighed. "I'll go get him then."

"Alright. Take care then. I have paperwork to get back to." Tsubasa said.

Ryo nodded and sighed. "Thanks Tsubasa. Good luck with that paperwork."

"See you later." Tsubasa said, hanging up.

Ryo sighed and called Madoka, sprinting towards the hospital exit. As the two sped on their way to retrieve Gingka and make sure that he was okay, they little knew that this was to become a pattern over the next few months, until…

* * *

"Finally!" Gingka groaned, stepping into the sunlight and stretching. "I hate hospitals."

"You wouldn't have had to stay as long if you had stayed put." Madoka huffed, smacking the redhead on the side of the head.

"Ow! Hey!" Gingka exclaimed, lifting Madoka into the air with a surprising amount of strength and putting her over his shoulder before walking off.

"Hey! Put me down!" Madoka screeched, pounding her fists on Gingka's back.

"... How in the world did he make a full recovery in just three months when the doctors said it would be at least a year, and maybe longer?" Zero asked.

"Absolutely no clue." Ryo shook his head in amusement as Madoka continued yelling at Gingka, attracting the attention of several passerby.

"Those two need to get married. Like, now." Ren said, coming up next to Zero with their baby in her arms.

"Maybe we should just plan the wedding ahead of time." Zero chuckled.

Ryo rolled his eyes. "Let them take things at their own pace, guys." he said, following Gingka down the street.

Soon enough, the entire group arrived at Bull Burger, where Benkei was waiting for them.

"What now?" Madoka asked as they ate, Gingka and Zero shoving half of their burgers down their throat before anyone could stop them.

"Well, I suppose we go to Koma Village." Ryo said.

"Why Koma?" Gingka turned to his father and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, for one thing, because I remembered something that my father told me about, and it involves Pegasus."

"The bey or the person?" Zero asked.

"Person, I think." Ryo said.

"What are we waiting for then?" Gingka asked.

"Umm, Ren and I can't exactly just pack up and walk off, you know." Zero said. "We do have a baby to take care of."

"Right…" Gingka scratched his cheek in thought.

"We can take a WBBA helicopter." Ryo said. "There are some pretty nice houses that at least Ren and the baby can stay in while the rest of us conduct our search."

"Up to you, Zero. You don't have to come." Gingka said.

The Ifrit blader grinned. "But why would I miss it? You helped me a ton in the past, so it's only fair that I come help you for once."

Gingka smiled and chuckled slightly at Zero's enthusiasm, which hadn't dimmed as the younger blader had matured. The redhead turned his attention back to his burger, narrowing his eyes slightly as he thought about all that had happened. He had taken the deal, partially against his will, but Pegasus had been right: It had to be done. So now what? Gingka sighed quietly, glancing out of the corner of his eye at his friends. All of them were talking and laughing. Gingka could only wonder how long it would be before he was watching them die. The redhead shook the idea out of his head with a shudder.

"Gingka? Are you alright?" Madoka ashed quietly.

"I'm fine." Gingka replied with a smile.

"What's bugging you?" Madoka asked, seeing through the facade in an instant.

"I was just thinking. Nothing important." Gingka shrugged.

Madoka placed an arm around Gingka's shoulders. "Tell me?"

Gingka shook his head. "Really, it's nothing."

Madoka sighed. "Fine, but you shouldn't just hold it in."

Gingka shrugged and continued eating silently. Madoka watched him with a slight amount of worry in her turquoise eyes.

"Well, the arrangements are made. We'll take a helicopter to Koma Village in two days. That should be enough time for us all to prepare, right?" Ryo said, setting his phone down.

"Fine by me." Gingka said.

"Yeah. We should be able to be ready by then." Zero said with a chuckle, glancing at Ren, who nodded and smiled.

"I don't think I can leave Bull Burger." Benkei sighed. "Well, I could, but I'd have to close it down for a bit."

"Don't worry about coming Benkei." Gingka said. "You have stuff to do here anyway."

"I'll think about it." Benkei shrugged. "I do want to help, and the more the merrier, right?" he slapped Gingka on the back, causing the redhead to faceplant into his fries with a startled yelp.

"Benkei! Be careful with him!" Madoka exclaimed, leaping to her feet.

"Uhh… Whoops?" Benkei looked sheepish.

"Gee, thanks. I needed ketchup all over my face." Gingka said sarcastically as he removed his face from his food.

"... I'll get you a dishtowel to wipe that off with." Benkei chuckled, walking into the back room as the others laughed.

Gingka glared and swiped some of the ketchup off his face, swiping it down Zero's nose and looking very satisfied with himself as the Ifrit blader froze, jaw dropping open in shock. Ren laughed at her husband, only to also freeze as Gingka swiped ketchup down her nose.

"Who's next?" Gingka grinned. "I have plenty more ketchup here!"

The others backed away slowly. Gingka laughed.

"I'm kidding!"

"Come on, let's head back to my house and make plans." Madoka laughed.

"Sounds good to me." Gingka chuckled, wiping his face off as Benkei returned and handed him a dish towel.

"See you guys later!" Benkei called as the group left.

However, the moment the group got outside, an explosion blew them all back.

"What in the world?!" Benkei yelped, running outside. Several masked figures were walking towards Gingka, who automatically reached for his belt, only to groan in annoyance as he remembered that he couldn't battle as before.

"Gingka!" Zero immediately launched, getting Ifrit between the figures and the redhead. Ryo helped his son up.

"What do you want?!" Gingka demanded, coughing and waving smoke away from his face.

"Only one thing… Your death." The leading figure replied.

"What?! Why?!" Zero demanded, as Ifrit ignited into flames and created a barrier between the two groups.

"Quite simple: He's in the way of our plans."

"A place I find myself quite often." Gingka rolled his eyes. "Usually because I don't happen to like people who are trying to take over the world for their own personal gain. So what's your twist on it then? Or do you work for Doji as well?"

"We do not work for that old man. He has failed too many times."

Gingka rolled his eyes. "Uh yeah, luckily for the rest of the world."

"Silence, Hagane! You will fall before us here and now!"

"You've gotta get through us first." Benkei said, placing his rather large body between the enemy figures and Gingka.

"Who are you?" Madoka demanded, putting one arm around Gingka protectively.

"We like to call ourselves the Liberators."

"... Liberators of what? Fashion statements?" Ren asked, eyeing their clothing, which was all metallic and spiked.

Zero and Gingka snorted at the blonde's comment.

"Silence!" Their leader snarled.

"I don't recall you being in charge here." Madoka said. "I think she has a right to talk."

"Madoka, we should get out of here." Gingka whispered. "I don't know how to fight back yet."

"We'll cover your escape." Ryo said. "Better head to the WBBA."

Gingka sighed and nodded. "Be careful. I don't like the look of those guns." he said. Benkei and Ryo blocked the view of the Liberators as Gingka and Madoka ran off.

"Ren, take the baby and go with them. I'll meet up with you there." Zero said.

"O-okay." Ren said, running off with her baby in her arms.

"Now then…" Ryo said. "Who wants to go first?"

"We are not interested in fighting you. Only him."

"Well, you'll have to get past us and more before you can ever get to him." Benkei said, stomping his foot on the ground as he raised his launcher.

"Oh. That's easy." one of the Liberators said, pressing a button on his wrist. Before Benkei, Ryo, and Zero could react, all five black-clad figures had taken off.

"... Rocket boots?!" Zero yelped.

"That just made our job a lot harder." Ryo groaned, running off. "Come on!"

Zero and Benkei followed, slightly frightened at the sudden appearance of this new enemy. Only one question was in their minds: Could they keep Gingka safe while he figured out his new abilities? Only time would tell.

* * *

**Welp, there's your main antagonist. Or, antagonists, I suppose, since there are five of them. Enjoy, and until next time, Galaxy out!**


	10. Koma

**Wohoo! Tenth chapter! This one is, honestly, a bit of a filler, because I needed to get the scene shifted from one place to another, but I've packed plenty of craziness into this chapter to make up for the lack in plot motion. Enjoy!**

* * *

"I think we lost them." Madoka panted, looking around as she and Gingka reached the WBBA headquarters.

"I sure hope so." Gingka sighed as he stepped inside, panting.

"That was too close." Ren sighed as she entered, shifting her baby to her other hip.

"Baby's okay?" Madoka asked.

"He's fine." Ren sighed, trying to calm her wailing child. "Well, mostly. Frightened a bit, naturally."

"Perhaps… I should go alone… So that you guys are safe." Gingka sighed.

"Not gonna happen. We're sticking with you no matter what." Madoka said, poking one finger into the center of Gingka's chest.

"But-" Gingka began, but was suddenly cut off as Madoka grabbed the collar of his jacket and kissed him. The redhead's eyes widened in surprise as he turned beet red. Ren chuckled under her breath as Madoka pulled away, blushing at her sudden, bold move.

"Just shut up. We've stuck with you through everything else, and we're sticking with you through this too." Madoka said, placing both hands on Gingka's shoulders and looking into his eyes.

"I'll just leave you two alone to make out then." Ren joked, heading for the elevator as the two lovebirds flushed beet red.

"Hey! We weren't-" Gingka groaned and facepalmed. Ren merely laughed.

"Your face is as red as your hair!" she exclaimed, nearly doubling over in laughter.

"... What's going on in here?" Ryo said confusedly as he walked in, instantly noticing the red-faced, awkward couple glaring at the hysterical Ren.

"Madoka kissed Gingka and Ren's teasing them about it." Hikaru volunteered the information from the front desk.

"Oooooh…" the others, who were now all assembled, grinned teasingly at the red-faced pair. Madoka looked about ready to kill someone, while Gingka seemed to be looking for something to hide his face behind.

"We'd better get further into the building. I think we'll have to just leave right away." Ryo chuckled, patting Gingka on the back as he walked past him towards the elevator.

"Yeah, with those guys around, we can't stay here for too long. I only hope they can't follow us." Zero sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"But what about supplies for Eiichi?" Ren asked, bouncing her baby slightly to calm him.

"We've got resources for that in Koma." Ryo said. "Don't worry about a thing."

"Alright." Ren sighed. "When do we leave then?"

"I can have a helicopter ready in half an hour." Hikaru said. "Well, to be more accurate, it's already being prepared and will be ready in half an hour."

Ryo nodded in approval. "We'll just hang out in the lounge then."

"I'll call you when the helicopter is ready. Good luck, Director, Gingka, everyone." Hikaru smiled at the group as they stepped into the elevator. By some collaboration of Zero and Ren, Gingka and Madoka ended up right next to each other. Gingka buried his face in the corner of the elevator in embarrassment and Madoka clenched her fists, barely able to hold back from shrieking at Ryo and Benkei as the two made kissing noises.

"Knock it off, would you?!" The brunette finally snapped as the elevator doors opened. Gingka was out the doors almost before anyone else had noticed they were open.

"You'd think he'd be full after those burgers at Benkei's." Ren snorted as the redhead went straight for the snack bar.

"How have we never known about this place?" Zero asked, looking around the spacious room at the snack bar and several couches and lounge chairs.

"It's normally for only WBBA workers, but it's a good place to hang out while we wait for the helicopter to be ready." Ryo stated simply, heading for a couch and flopping down with a sigh.

"It's nice." Ren commented.

Benkei nodded in approval as Gingka sat down across the room with a small plate full of snacks, which he busied himself with in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. Madoka shook her head and sighed as Ryo made one last kissing noise before heading to the snack bar himself.

"Zero, diaper bag." Ren said.

"Should still be intact." Zero said, taking said bag, which was somehow undamaged, off his shoulder and handing it to his wife.

"It is, although his bottle seems to have leaked a bit." Ren commented with a frown. Zero looked sheepish.

"Hey, those guys could fly. We should probably disguise ourselves when we get into the helicopter so that they don't suspect anything." Benkei suggested.

"That's the first mature thing I've heard from you since we got here." Gingka commented.

"Hey! You should have seen your face a second ago!" Benkei protested.

"Your point?" Gingka asked, popping a piece of sushi into his mouth.

"Uhh…" Benkei frowned.

"I figured." Gingka smirked.

"It really was cute though." Ryo chuckled. "You two lovebirds."

"Daaaaad." Gingka whined.

"Next person to make a comment about me and Gingka is going to get punched." Madoka said calmly, sitting down with a cup of iced tea. "Any questions?"

"... Nope." The others replied in unison.

"Good." Madoka smirked, sipping her tea. "So what is the plan from here then?"

"Slip away to Koma Village as quietly and secretly as possible, then search for this guy "Pegasus" or whatever." Ryo sighed.

"How are we going to keep these guys from knowing that it's us leaving though?" Ren asked.

"Well, there's always the power of disguise." Ryo said. "I think that a group of men leaving the Metal Bey City WBBA on a diplomatic mission to China will make quite a good cover story for us."

"... A group of what?" Madoka narrowed her eyes.

"Are you suggesting that Madoka and Ren dress up as guys?" Zero asked.

"Yes, and here's why." Ryo said. "It's mere common sense that they may suspect that we'll try to trick them. When they encountered us, they saw two women, a baby, and four men. If they see two women, a baby, and four men leaving the WBBA, even if we look different, they'll suspect that it's us if they're smart. But, if they see six men and no baby, maybe even seven men, then they shouldn't suspect anything." Ryo said.

"Question." Gingka raised his hand.

"What?" Ryo asked.

"How in the world are we going to be able to fool anyone into thinking that those two are men? Their figures are extremely… Feminine." Gingka said awkwardly.

"In other words you're saying that certain parts that only girls have may be too large to hide successfully?" Zero snickered.

"Uhh…" Gingka flushed light pink, glancing at Madoka, who was glaring at him in embarrassment. Ren looked like she was ready to punch the redhead. "S-something like that…"

Ryo and Benkei glanced at each other, then burst out laughing. Zero tried to hide an amused smile as Gingka buried his face in the couch, trying to hide from the wrath of the two women who were currently giving him death glares.

"Gingka…" Madoka said slowly.

"I surrender!" Gingka eeped in a surprisingly high-pitched tone, considering his age.

Madoka and Ren glanced at each other, the anger falling from their faces as they burst out laughing. Ryo and Benkei began laughing harder, while Zero animefell.

"And this is the fearless Gingka Hagane, who saved the entire world from Nemesis. Twice." Ren snorted and giggled hysterically.

"Hey, girls are scarier than Nemesis. Especially Madoka." Gingka pouted, pulling his face out of the couch. The others merely laughed harder.

"What?! W-well, I'm not actually scared of her, it's just-" Gingka paused.

"Alright Gingka, shut up before you get your entire foot down your throat." Ryo laughed, patting his son on the head. Gingka looked flustered.

"Why me…" The redhead groaned, reburying his face in the couch as the others tried to calm down from their hysterical laughter.

"Let's get to disguising ourselves so we can take off as soon as the helicopter is ready." Ryo chuckled, standing.

Half an hour later, four people stood on the top of the WBBA building, dressed in full WBBA uniforms and carrying large cases full of what was supposedly weapons. The idea of disguising Ren and Madoka as boys had been abandoned as what Gingka had awkwardly pointed out was proven true.

"I think we should be safe." Ryo said as he climbed into the helicopter right behind Gingka.

"Yeah." Ryo said, closing the doors to the passenger area of the helicopter and going into the cargo area as the blades began spinning. Gingka, Kenta, and Benkei followed.

Ryo and Kenta grabbed crowbars and opened the cases. Gingka reached in and gripped the hand of Madoka, helping her stand from inside the case.

"That was not the most comfortable of places to be in." Madoka grunted as she stretched.

"Well it was better than trying to disguise you and Ren as boys, was it not?" Ryo said as he helped Zero out of another case.

Madoka shrugged, heading into the passenger area as Zero helped Ren out while Benkei held Eiichi.

"At least it worked well." Gingka sighed.

"I doubt that the 'Liberators' will have suspected anything, even if they did see us leaving." Kenta sighed, taking off the cap and wig he had been wearing and running his fingers through his hair.

"You actually look pretty good as a blonde, Gingka." Madoka teased, snatching Gingka's wig off his head and ruffling his hair.

"... Thanks?" Gingka said slowly.

"Ooh, lovebirds!" Zero and Ren piped up.

"S-shut up!" Gingka and Madoka exclaimed, once more flushing red, much to the amusement of the Kuroganes.

"So where is this Koma Village, anyway?" Ren asked after she had stopped laughing.

"Deep within the mountains. Really, you have to know how to find it to find it… Supposedly." Ryo said.

"'Supposedly'?" Zero raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Doji… Somehow found it fourteen years ago." Gingka said. "So yeah, supposedly, although his initial target was Lightning L-Drago, not Koma."

"It's a beautiful place, really." Madoka commented.

"Oh?" Ren seemed interested.

"Gingka describes it best." Benkei said.

"Well… I sorta grew up there…" Gingka chuckled.

"Go for it." Ryo chuckled. "Benkei's right."

Gingka leaned back, placing his hands behind his head and closing his eyes. "Basically, it's just a tiny little village nestled right in the center of a heavily forested mountain range, with two large mountains overlooking it. The closer one, Mount Hagane, where Lightning L-Drago was originally imprisoned, is sorta a symbol to the villagers with its three-tiered cliff-faced appearance, while the further and larger one, known merely as the Snowy Mountain for, well, obvious reasons, is a challenge for any blader. To my knowledge, only two people have ever reached the peak despite the dangers of avalanches and blizzards and icicles."

"Wow… How long ago did those two do it? Was it recent?" Ren asked.

"Well, one was… Almost fifteen years ago, and the other was about fourteen." Ryo said.

"Wow. Not too long ago. I wonder what it's like up there… Those would be some cool people to meet. I bet they'd have some tales to tell." Zero said.

"Dodging falling icicles in a cave made of pure ice about halfway up that mountain is absolutely no fun, but would make a good training exercise." Gingka commented, opening his eyes, which were sparkling mischievously.

"Huh?" Ren and Zero looked confused, while Benkei, Kenta, and Madoka burst out laughing at the mischievous grins on the faces of the two Haganes.

"Zero… The two people to climb the mountain were Ryo and Gingka." Madoka laughed.

"O-oh…." Zero looked sheepish. "Why didn't you mention that?!"

Gingka shrugged. "I was asked to describe the village, not its inhabitants."

"It sounds really pretty…" Ren said dreamily, trying to picture the village in her mind.

"I remember the first time we went there." Kenta chuckled.

"And how Hyoma tricked us and led us in circles for hours?" Madoka laughed.

Benkei huffed. "It was Kyoya who figured that out." he said, crossing his arms.

"Very true. Benkei got his butt kicked." Kenta snorted.

"Hey! You got your butt kicked too!" Benkei exclaimed, gaining a tick mark.

"And then the next day, after we'd been led to the village, Gingka kicked Hyoma's butt." Madoka laughed.

"I still remember the shocked look on his face when I did that." Gingka smirked. "Man, that takes me back."

"How far back?" Zero asked curiously.

"Before Battle Bladers." Kenta chuckled.

Ren's eyes widened. "That's… Way back."

"I was twelve, Madoka was eleven… Kenta was just a baby." Gingka chuckled.

"Hey! I was ten, and that's not a baby!" Kenta protested.

"You practically were. You were so short." Madoka laughed.

"How short?" Zero asked.

"I don't think he was above Benkei's waist." Gingka laughed.

"He wasn't." Benkei confirmed.

Kenta pouted. "Oh, come on guys. I wasn't that small."

"Yeah you were." Gingka snorted.

Kenta crossed his arms. "You're making it sound like I was a little weakling."

"... Uh, Kenta, you kinda were…" Benkei chuckled.

"Was not!" Kenta protested.

"Did you forget that I had to rescue you from Benkei and those face hunters, then again later from the rest of the face hunters, then I had to get Sagittario back for you, then you restored to training with Benkei to beat Hikaru, who I beat in one try, then-"

"Okay Gingka, I get it! I wasn't quite as strong as I am now, but still!" Kenta protested.

Gingka and Madoka laughed at the pink face of their old friend.

"Wait, wait, Gingka had to rescue Kenta from Benkei?" Zero asked in disbelief.

"We started as complete enemies for a few months." Gingka and Benkei said simultaneously.

"No way!" Zero exclaimed.

"Yes way. In fact-" Gingka began yet another story of the past, nostalgia sweeping over everyone listening. The entire group forgot about the threat that laid behind them and the challenges that were ahead, as they listened to Gingka and the others retell tales of Battle Bladers, the World Championships, and more. Before they knew it, they were landing in the very center of Gingka's hometown.

"Home at last. It seems like it's been forever." Gingka commented as he stood, helping Ryo open the door before stepping outside.

"The Haganes have returned!" the familiar voice of Hyoma called as cheering resounded through the air.

"... You didn't mention we'd be getting a welcoming party." Gingka said, glancing at his dad.

"Well, I did call Hyoma and tell him that we were coming…" Ryo looked sheepish.

Gingka chuckled under his breath and began walking, smiling at the familiar sights and smells of the one place that would always be his true home, no matter what.

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**Yay for Koma Village! Yay for 'aww!' feels at the end of chapters! Yay for tenth chapters and virtual cupcakes! Yay for.. I dunno, Gingka?**

**Gingka:... Okay? How about this one: Yay for Galaxy leaving me alone for a week until next chapter!**

**Me:... Baka. Galaxy out!**


	11. Grandfather

**Happy Fourth of July to those living in the U.S.! Meh is back with chapter 11, and the plot is really picking up now! Enjoy!**

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"Ahh, home sweet home." Gingka sighed as he entered his old home in Koma Village.

"Ryo! You look good for your age." Hokuto commented.

Gingka blinked. "Uhh… Hey Hokuto."

"Is Gingka with you?!" Hokuto asked. "I'll bet he's grown."

Ryo, who was hiding just outside the door, snickered quietly, motioning to the others to listen in as Hokuto kept chattering, not giving Gingka a chance to get a word in.

"How old is he now?" Hokuto asked.

"Hoku-"

"Twenty-something, right?"

"Hokut-"

"Man it's been a long time since I've seen him."

"Hokuto, I-"

"He's an adult now?! How did I not think of that?!"

"Hoku-"

"I need to stop imagining him as a teenager, I suppose, and wait to see him now that he's fully grown. I'll bet- Ryo?" Hokuto paused and looked back at the redhead in confusion. Gingka was occupied sweatdropping and glaring.

"What's wrong? Did I say something?" Hokuto asked. The next instant, hysterical laughter began echoing from outside. Gingka facepalmed.

"You guys are so not helping!" He shouted over his shoulder before turning back to a confused-looking Hokuto.

"Ryo, what's…?" Hokuto trailed off.

"Wrong Hagane…" Gingka chuckled, shaking his head and trying his best not to look amused.

Hokuto's mouth dropped open in shock. "Wait, so..."

"Yup, you just mistook me for my dad, apparently." Gingka sighed, shaking his head again as Ryo entered, still laughing. Hokuto looked extremely embarrassed.

"O-oh… You've... grown." Hokuto said sheepishly.

"Hasn't he? Sorry Gingka, but I had to see how this would work out without me in the room." Ryo chuckled.

Gingka rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, thanks dad." he said sarcastically.

"There's the good little doggie!" Madoka exclaimed, dropping next to Hokuto and scratching his head and chin before the dog even had time to realize she was there.

"Whoa! Hang on a second!" Hokuto yelped, leaping back. "Madoka?! You've all grown!"

"Well, it has been what… Ten years since I last saw you, and longer for Madoka?" Gingka scratched the back of his head, frowning slightly in thought. "Man, comas mess with your brain…"

"Comas? As in the medical state where you don't wake up?" Hyoma raised an eyebrow as he entered.

Gingka looked at the ground. "Yeah… There's a reason we came back… With this many people."

"To explain in short, Gingka woke up a few months ago from a coma that he'd been in for exactly five years, and now there's something we need to do." Ryo said.

"What is it?" Hokuto asked.

"We need to find my dad and ask him about the tales that his father told, about a…. being… Named Pegasus." Ryo said.

"And why are you suddenly so interested in those old fairy tales that my father told me?" An older-sounding voice asked as the tapping of a cane was heard from down the hallway before an elderly man with white hair, leaning on a cane, entered the room, looking around with golden-brown eyes that seemed to be younger than the man who possessed them.

"Hey, Grandpa!" Gingka greeted, walking over and hugging the old man.

"Ooh you've gotten big!" The old man exclaimed, hugging Gingka back before pushing him away to arm's length so he could get a good look at him. "How old are you now?"

"... Twenty-six…" Gingka chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Well. I'm getting old."

Ryo chuckled. "No kidding. Even I almost can't believe how much he's grown."

"He's strong." The old man commented, taking Gingka's hand firmly in his own. "I can feel it. I can feel the power flowing through him. I bet his beybattles are quite the spectacle by now."

"Yeah… They were…" Gingka said, his eyes darkening slightly.

"Is… Something wrong?" Hyoma asked hesitantly.

"I'm not a blader anymore, Hyoma." Gingka sighed, turning his attention to the ceiling.

"Huh? What in the world… Are you talking about, Gingka?!" Hyoma exclaimed.

"Has something happened to Pegasus?" Hokuto asked.

Gingka shook his head. "I'll explain later. Introductions first." He motioned to the others, who were standing rather awkwardly behind him and Ryo.

"Oh! I'm sorry, where are my manners? I am Kentaro Hagane, Ryo's father and Gingka's grandfather." the old man introduced himself, holding out his free hand.

"I'm Madoka Amano, one of Gingka's friends." Madoka said sweetly.

"Girlfriend…" Benkei coughed.

Gingka and Madoka flushed beet red.

"Oh, his girlfriend, huh? Nice to meet you, Miss Amano."

"Please.. Just call me Madoka." Madoka stammered, shooting a glare over her shoulder at Benkei, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm Zero Kurogane, and this is my wife Ren and our son, Eiichi." Zero said, indicating the two behind him.

"Well, nice to meet you too, Mr. and Mrs. Kurogane." Kentaro said.

"Tsubasa Ootori, another one of Gingka's friends." Tsubasa said. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Hagane."

"And you." Kentaro smiled.

"And I'm Benkei Hanawa!" Benkei shook Kentaro's hand enthusiastically.

"Well, nice to meet all of you." Kentaro chuckled. "Now, shall we sit down and have some cake? Hyoma, there is some left, right?"

"I'll check while you guys sit down." Hyoma said, going into the kitchen.

Kentaro, meanwhile, turned into the living room and sat down slowly with a sigh. Ryo and Gingka sat on either side of him, and Hokuto curled up between the feet of the three Haganes. The others sat down in various places around the room.

"No cake, sorry." Hyoma said as he entered. "So… What did happen then?"

Gingka closed his eyes, looking at the ground. "It's… Complicated… Very complicated."

"Just sum it up. It's not too complicated for that." Ryo said.

Gingka opened his eyes and leaned back, tucking his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling. "Well… Basically… There was this deal thing that I was offered. I didn't want to take it, but I ended up having to because Nemesis returned and I needed the power the deal gave to beat him. That deal basically… Well, fused me with Pegasus… But I don't know how to use the power now that I have it. That's why we're here. Well, hopefully. We're here to find this guy who said his name was Pegasus, because he said we'd meet again."

"Why here though?" Hyoma asked.

"Because of my father's stories, you think this is a good place to start?" Kentaro guessed.

"Yeah. Do you have any ideas?" Ryo asked.

"Those were just legends… Old stories. I loved them when I was young, but there wasn't truth behind them, although my father went so far as to draw maps of the places the stories happened. He made up ways for certain landmarks around here to have happened."

"Such as…?" Gingka asked.

"Those rock formations with the holes in them, for example."

"The ones that I used to fire beys through for training?" Gingka said, blinking.

"Yes. My father said that they were created by Pegasus himself."

"What if they were…?" Madoka asked. "It's not like there's another way that they could have been done that I can think of."

"But… The precision required… And we know that Pegasus does exist, so it's possible." Tsubasa said.

"You know that he exists?" Kentaro said.

"We saw him." Ryo said. "Right after Gingka went comatose from the transformation, Pegasus caught him out of the air and told us to take him to the hospital. He handed Gingka to me and said we'd meet again, then disappeared."

"You're sure it was him?" Kentaro looked suspicious.

"Well… He had the same name. It may not be the Pegasus from your dad's stories, but we don't have any other place to start." Ryo said.

Kentaro frowned. "But… He'd have to be extremely old to still be alive. Even if what my father said was true, and he never aged over the time that my father knew him, that was nearly seventy years ago."

"What was?" Madoka asked.

"The last time my father ever saw him. He told the story of Pegasus coming on his wedding day, just before the ceremony, and telling him that they would not meet again. That was about seventy years ago, around ten years before I was born."

"Did your dad say what he looked like?" Gingka asked. "It'd make it easier to find him."

"All I remember was that he had blue eyes and hair." Kentaro said. "My dad always described him that way. He was quite the mysterious figure as well. He never let anyone else see him. Only my father ever did."

"Well, that's a start… It could be the same one, but I suppose we'll find out." Gingka sighed.

"Gingka….?" Zero suddenly sounded nervous.

"What?" Gingka blinked confusedly, looking around the room. Everyone was staring at him in shock.

"Your eyes, Gingka…" Madoka whispered.

"What about them?" Gingka said, beginning to feel uncomfortably nervous.

"They… Just look." Madoka said, handing Gingka her compact mirror, which she had pulled out of her pocket.

Gingka took it, his hand shaking slightly as he opened the mirror and looked into it. His eyes widened at what he saw: a single streak of glowing blue straight down the center of each eye.

"The transformation… Is that… Part of it?" Ryo asked.

"Rago got the same one and his eyes were fully glowing…" Gingka muttered. "So it probably is." He handed the mirror back to Madoka. "It's still a bit… Unnerving to see it though."

"Yeah… But it looks pretty cool as well." Ryo commented.

Gingka smiled slightly. "I guess so…"

"Well then, let's piece together some of these old stories and find this guy, shall we?" Kentaro said after a few moments.

Gingka nodded and stood. Ryo stood and helped Kentaro get up.

"There's an old box in the attic filled with those stories. My father wrote them down and put his maps in them as well. There is one map that he said Pegasus gave to him on his wedding day, along with a letter." Kentaro said.

"We'll get them. Is the box in a specific place?" Zero asked.

"It should be right in the center, and it is labeled as "Dad's Pegasus stories." Kentaro said.

Zero nodded and saluted, then climbed into the attic as Hyoma lowered the ladder. Soon enough, he found the box that Kentaro had named, and handed it down to Ryo before returning to the ground level himself. The group then returned to the living room, where Kentaro opened the box to reveal several dusty stacks of paper. Laying atop the stack were several faded blue feathers.

"Those… Are too large for any bird that lives around here." Kentaro said, lifting one up and running his finger over it. "I didn't put them in the box. I don't remember even seeing them."

Gingka slowly reached into the box and picked up a small envelope that was laying atop the stack, just under the feathers.

"That… Has your name on it. That wasn't in there either." Kentaro said.

Gingka took a deep breath, examining the envelope before opening it.

"This is fairly new paper. It's definitely not as old as the other stuff in here." Ryo commented as Gingka pulled out the paper inside the envelope, reading over it and narrowing his eyes.

"What's it say?" Madoka asked.

"Read it aloud, would you?" Kentaro requested. Gingka nodded.

"Looks like some sort of challenge thing." the redhead said.

"Just read it." Benkei said.

Gingka sighed and began.

"Gingka: By the time you find this, you'll have likely figured out that there might be a connection between me and your great-grandfather. That is correct. I did know Hiro Hagane back when he was young. He and I were even very close friends, but, as you will find out fairly soon, friends fade all too quickly when you've taken the deal. However, that is beside the subject. I know about the deal merely because I myself took it many years ago. How many is not important. I am waiting for you. Where, I will not say, lest this fall into the wrong hands. All I'll say is that it's somewhere you've been before, but only once have you been there. The letter I gave Hiro just before his wedding will give you more hints as to my location. Consider this the first challenge to your new powers. Find me, if you can, and I'll show you more. Good luck.

-Pegasus."

"So… He is near enough to have slipped this into the box, along with those feathers, and he wants you to find him now?" Madoka said.

"Apparently." Gingka sighed, trying to shake Pegasus's words from his mind.

Friends fade all too quickly when you've taken the deal…

Gingka shook his head slightly, growling under his breath.

"Is something wrong?" Madoka asked.

"Nothing." Gingka smiled gently at her. "Let's get working on finding this guy."

"Alright." Madoka said, although she wasn't convinced. Even with the glowing streaks in Gingka's eyes, she could see that something was indeed wrong.

"So it begins…" Pegasus muttered to himself as he stood atop Mount Hagane, his cloak flapping wildly in the wind. "He has arrived here, and it shouldn't take him too long to figure out where I am. The hard part… Will be actually getting to me. But he can do it. He already has the strength. He just has to learn how to use it. In the meantime, I will simply be watching."

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**Hey look, Pegasus is back! XP He'll be showing up a bit more over the next few chapters, and I'm approaching my main plot twist! Until next time, as usual, Galaxy out!**


	12. Mountain

**Yay for updating on time! Yay for Gingka! Yay for weekends! Yay for being hyper!**

**Gingka:... Well, at least one of us has energy here.**

**Me: Oh, shut up Gingka. I haven't even technically injured you in this story yet. And no, that coma didn't count. Anyway, enjoy the chapter guys!**

* * *

"So… A map of Snowy Mountain…?" Gingka said.

"All of these maps together… The mountain's at the center and it makes one large map of that mountain." Ryo frowned.

"Is he on the mountain then?" Gingka wondered.

"That would match up with what he said in his letter. You have only been to the mountain once, after all." Ryo said.

"So… Do we have to search the whole mountain for him? Because… That'd take a ridiculously long time. It's huge." Madoka frowned.

"There has to be some other clue…" Gingka frowned.

"Can we find this 'other clue' in the morning?" Madoka yawned. "It's getting late. Ren already went to bed."

"And I'm about to." Zero said, running his fingers through his orange bangs.

"Sorry…" Gingka looked sheepish. "I guess I lost track of time. Sure, we'll continue in the morning."

"Goodnight then." Benkei said, getting up and leaving.

"Well, I suppose these old bones could use some rest." Kentaro said, grunting as he got up from the ground before walking slowly back down the hallway and disappearing into a room.

"Goodnight, Gingka." Madoka said quietly, kissing the redhead on the cheek before going to the room that had been prepared for her.

Gingka flushed a light pink, finding that he was now the only one left in the room. With a heavy sigh, he got up and switched off the lights, then blinked confusedly and looked at the switch, then at the lightbulb.

"My eyes… Are that bright?" He muttered in surprise, walking to his own room with absolutely no problem at all. The redhead looked in the mirror hanging on his bedroom wall, narrowing his eyes slightly as he noticed that a horizontal streak had appeared, illuminating the golden brown further than before.

"So… I've got a built-in flashlight now, huh?" Gingka muttered sarcastically to himself, smiling slightly in amusement at his own joke. The redhead then closed his eyes with a sigh, lowering his head slightly.

A sudden clap of thunder nearly blew Gingka's eardrums out as his window shattered. Before the sound had even faded, Gingka had whirled, throwing up his arms to shield his face from the flying glass. Once the rumbling sound had faded into the distance, Gingka heard a low groan from just outside. He darted to the window, looking down, his eyes widening in surprise.

"One… Of the Liberators… They're here." Gingka gasped in surprise.

"You're welcome."

Gingka's head shot up, but he saw nothing. "Pegasus…?" he called softly.

No response came. Gingka watched as a blue feather identical to the ones in the box from earlier floated to the ground. The redhead jumped out the window and picked it up, examining it.

"So… You've taken this deal too, huh?" he muttered, looking up and around. "I will find you… Mark my words… I will find you."

"If you last that long."

Gingka's eyes widened and he whirled, then dove to the side as an attack flew at him.

"We meet again." The leader of the Liberators said. "And this time, your little friends aren't around to help you."

Gingka narrowed his eyes.

"I will stop you before you have a chance to fully transform." The black-clad man said.

"Who are you?!" Gingka snarled.

"Is that really all that important since I will soon wipe you off the face of the earth, permanently?!" the Liberator exclaimed, lunging at Gingka with a raised knife.

Gingka gasped sharply and leapt back instinctively. His eyes reflected a sudden bolt of lightning as it flashed, narrowly missing the leader.

"Stand down, Kusari. You know I'm stronger than you are."

"You." Kusari, as his name apparently was, looked around and growled as he saw no sign of the lightning's source. "Come out!"

"No. Now is not the time. Now leave!" Pegasus's voice echoed as another bolt of lightning struck. Kusari growled and leapt away, disappearing into the night.

"Get inside, you fool. You're too out in the open."

"Why won't you just show yourself?!" Gingka demanded. "Why all the secrecy?!"

The redhead then waited for a reply, but there was none.

"Stupid… Pegasus." Gingka grunted, climbing back in through his window and closing the curtains over the gaping hole. He winced suddenly, glancing down at his hand and finding that he had cut it on the sharp edges of the broken window.

"And here I thought I was going to actually get to sleep." Gingka sighed, heading for the closet to find something to bandage his hand with. It took him several minutes to remember where the first aid kit was, and several more minutes to get the supplies he needed. The redhead grabbed one end of the gauze under his thumb, then blinked in surprise, dropping all of the medical supplies on the ground as he stared wide-eyed at his hand.

"It… Healed? That quickly?" He muttered, looking at his other hand to be sure that it really had healed. "Man… No kidding about the advanced healing rate." he sighed, then yawned. As more lightning flashed outside, Gingka decided to sleep in the living room rather than his own bedroom.

* * *

The next morning, Hyoma walked out of his room, only to trip over Hokuto, who was just outside the door.

"Hyoma! You have to see this!" The small dog whispered loudly before trotting off down the halls. Hyoma followed, curiosity overtaking his mind. When he reached the living room, he gasped in surprise. Madoka, Ryo, and the others looked over at him. They were all standing in a circle around Gingka, who was on the floor, still sound asleep. A small pair of wings had sprouted from the redhead's back. Each wing was about one foot in length, or so Hyoma estimated judging by the short length of the folded limbs.

"He… Has wings…" Kentaro said in surprise as he entered.

"Apparently so." Ryo said, reaching down and gently shaking Gingka's shoulder to wake him up.

"Hnn…?" Gingka muttered sleepily, rolling onto his back.

"Don't-" Madoka began, then winced as a cracking noise came from Gingka's back. The redhead's eyes widened before he yelped sharply in pain and sat bolt upright, looking over his shoulder in confusion.

"You, uh… Sprouted wings overnight." Ryo explained.

A pained look crossed Gingka's face. "I… Noticed… Ow…."

"Are you alright?!" Zero asked.

"No clue. Dislocated or broken?" Gingka asked, straining to see the wing over his back.

"I'll look." Kentaro said, coming over. Gingka stood so that his grandfather could see without bending down.

"He used to fix bird wings all the time." Ryo explained to the others. "These shouldn't be too different."

"It's just dislocated." Kentaro announced. "Brace yourself, Gingka. I'm going to pop it back into place."

Gingka nodded, closing his eyes as Kentaro grabbed one part of the wing, pressing his hand against Gingka's back.

"One, two!" Kentaro suddenly yanked Gingka's wing back into place. The feathered appendage made a loud popping noise as Gingka yelped in surprise.

"Three." Kentaro chuckled, releasing Gingka's wing.

"This feels weird…" Gingka muttered, looking over his back.

"They're… Smaller than the ones you had when you faced Rago." Ryo commented.

"Well they weren't exactly the real thing, just the instant aftereffect that time because I had to beat Rago right then." Gingka grunted, spreading the wings to their full two-foot wingspan before folding them again with a sigh.

"A place Gingka's only been once before, huh?" Ryo muttered, looking back at the maps that were still laid out from the night before.

"And a map of the Snowy Mounta-" Madoka froze, her eyes widening. "Oh."

"What is it?!" Gingka said, looking up at her.

"Snowy Mountain. The maps make a map of the mountain, and you've been there before, but only once!" Madoka exclaimed.

Gingka blinked in surprise. "How… Did we not notice that yesterday?"

"Probably because we were all tired." Ryo chuckled. "Running from the 'Liberators,' traveling here, then it was fairly late…"

"True." Zero chuckled. "So… We go to the mountain then?"

Gingka frowned. "Guess so."

"We'll get through the wall. No worries." Ryo said.

"I suppose we should plan to head off ASAP then?" Kentaro said, walking out of the room.

"Guys… The Liberators are here." Gingka said.

"What?!" Madoka yelped.

"I saw them last night. I heard Pegasus's voice, but didn't see him. I think he was defending the house from them. It looked like he could fire lightning at will." Gingka said. "That's why I was sleeping in here. Also, their initial attack broke my window, so…"

"We'll get that fixed." Hyoma said. "Let's make plans and head out as soon as possible."

"And we have to make sure that Gingka stays safe. Apparently Pegasus is helping, but we can't depend on him too much, just in case." Ryo said.

"Why not?" Ren asked.

"Because we don't know enough about him." Ryo sighed. "We don't even know exactly what he looks like."

"I… Think we can trust him though." Gingka said. "I've seen enough about him that I think we can trust him."

"Still, we're going to protect you as well." Zero said.

Gingka smiled slightly. "Thanks guys… I wish I could just protect myself though."

"That'll come. Once you've learned how to use your powers, it'll come." Ryo said, patting Gingka on the back between his wings.

Gingka sighed. "It'd better. And soon…" the redhead looked down.

"Are you alright?" Madoka asked, concerned.

"Just… Thinking." Gingka said, smiling at her.

"Well, you can think and pack up supplies at the same time." Kentaro said, walking in with a large backpack.

"You're coming?" Ryo raised an eyebrow.

"These old joints can still stand to hike. You're stuck with me!" Kentaro said, shaking his cane at his son.

Ryo chuckled. "Alright dad. If you're sure."

"Of course I'm sure!" Kentaro said, heading for the door.

"Hold up, we're not ready yet!" Ryo yelped.

"Well then, better hurry, or this old man's gonna beat you all there!" Kentaro kept walking.

"You heard the old man." Gingka laughed. "Let's get to it!"

The others laughed and began to scramble for their stuff. Within an hour, they were all out the door and had caught up to Kentaro, who had stopped to wait for them on a bench near the edge of the town.

"You sure you wanna do this?" Ryo asked.

"I'm going to be useful for once and help my grandson who I haven't seen in years. You're still stuck with me." Kentaro said, shaking his cane at Ryo again.

"Thanks for coming, Grandpa. You really don't have to though." Gingka said.

"Well, who else is gonna fix up those wings of yours if you mess them up again?" Kentaro chuckled.

"Good point." Gingka chuckled, glancing back at the wings. He had been forced to remove his jacket and scarf after finding that the scarf inhibited the movement of his new wings, and that the jacket could not be worn without also restricting wing movement.

"So, you've traded one pair of wings for a real one." Madoka joked.

Gingka half-snorted. "Suppose so, huh?"

"May I?" Madoka asked, reaching out towards Gingka's wings.

"Go ahead." Gingka nodded, spreading the wing nearest her and allowing her to run her fingertips across it.

"It's… So strange… Actually seeing this…" Madoka said.

"Even stranger feeling it, but… It strangely feels normal at the same time." Gingka said. "Like it's always been there, yet so new at the same time…"

Madoka tilted her head slightly, listening as Gingka continued.

"It's… Been like this since I woke up, I suppose. The feeling of paradoxes, constantly. Even when I woke up, i felt weak, but you know that there was that strength coursing through my veins at the same time…"

"I see." Madoka said, rubbing his back between the wings. Gingka smiled at her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She put one hand on his opposite shoulder, making sure that her arm was below his wings, and leaned her head on the shoulder closest to her. Gingka leaned his head atop hers, and they continued walking in that position, following the others who were ahead of them.

"We're almost there." Kentaro called from the front of the line. Gingka looked up, instantly spotting the high wall surrounding the mountain. Soon enough, they came to the enormous gate, where, fourteen years before, Gingka had stood and began the climb that had gained him back his confidence.

"Whoa… That's huge." Zero whistled.

"The only way it can be opened is by a bey." Ryo explained. "Gingka did it on his own when he did it, and so did I."

Gingka walked up to the door, pulling off a piece of paper and a feather that was attached to it.

"Is that from Pegasus?" Zero asked.

"Yeah…" Gingka muttered, sighing.

"Uh oh. What'd he say this time?" Ryo asked.

Gingka wordlessly handed the paper to Ryo, who took it and read it aloud.

"I figured you would make it this far. The Liberators are likely not far behind, but I believe you will only have to worry about them at night from now on. Do not worry. I will be keeping watch, but I will not show myself to anyone until you find me. I am on the mountain, in the ice caverns. However, there is something you must be able to do before you can come find me. You have to open the door yourself. None of your friends or family can help you. The strength is already there. You just have to figure out how to use it. Whether you open it by a rapid charge or by a strong steady push is up to you, but you must open it, and you must do it alone."

The others stared at Gingka uneasily. The redhead's eyes were wide at this new challenge.

"First figuring out his location… Now this?" Madoka whispered.

"He can do it. He's got to be able to. Pegasus knows more than we do about Gingka's new powers, so we have no choice but to listen to him." Zero sighed.

"True." Ryo sighed. "Gingka?"

"Suppose I'd better get started." Gingka sighed. "You guys may as well set up camp. The sooner we get through this gate the better."

As Kentaro and the others began setting up camp, and Gingka began trying to open the door, Pegasus watched from a nearby section of the wall, although he was out of sight.

"So… They now know my exact location. It is only a matter of time until we fully meet. It is only a matter of time until they know… Until then… I will keep the Liberators… Occupied."

* * *

**Welp, that's all for this chapter. Now they've moved locations again and are one chapter closer to my main plot twist! Woohoo! Until next time, Galaxy out!**


	13. Lightning

**I'm back with another chapter! Woohoo! Sorta hyper right now, heh. Anyway, enjoy as we approach my main plot twist, which will be either next chapter or the one after that!**

* * *

The only thing that was heard in the near-stagnant air was the sound of grunting and straining. Madoka and the others watched with slightly worried looks as Gingka kept pushing against the giant wooden gate.

"Perhaps you should take a break, Gingka?" Madoka called.

Gingka merely grunted, leaning his full weight against the gate, his shoes digging into the rock beneath his feet. A startled yelp came from the redhead's mouth as his feet slipped out from under him, causing him to fall flat on his face.

"That'd be what, the twenty-fourth time that's happened?" Kentaro commented.

"... Dad, why are you keeping track of how many times he slips?" Ryo asked.

"Well, there's not much else for me to do out here, is there? I may as well count something other than the scratches on that gate." Kentaro said.

Ryo sighed. "I suppose so…"

Madoka got up and walked over to Gingka as the redhead slowly got back to his feet, panting. She placed one hand on his arm as he placed his hands on the gate once more.

"Rest." She said as Gingka looked at her in surprise. "The sun is setting. You can try again tomorrow."

Gingka sighed wearily, stepping back from the door as his wings drooped slightly. He walked over and sat down on a rock, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin in both hands.

"Nuh-uh, mister. You are going straight to bed after you eat something." Madoka said sternly, shoving a plate of food under Gingka's nose.

Gingka blinked in surprise and looked up at her.

"Don't make me force feed you." Madoka threatened.

Gingka's eyes widened. Almost before Madoka finished speaking, half of the food on the plate had gone down the redhead's throat, and he finished the rest in seconds.

"Come on then." Madoka chuckled, rolling out another sleeping bag and opening it up before grabbing Gingka's arm and pulling him over to it.

"Better listen to her, Gingka. An angry woman is enough to scare even the strongest of men." Kentaro joked.

Gingka rolled his eyes, but obediently laid down as Madoka pushed him into the sleeping bag. The brunette frowned at the wings on the redhead's back, trying to figure out how to get them into the sleeping bag as well. Eventually, she resorted to zipping it halfway, telling Gingka to lie with his back to the zipper. This allowed his wings to hang out unobstructed.

"Alright guys, let's go to sleep ourselves. Zero, you've got the first watch?" Ryo said, yawning.

"Yeah. I do." Zero chuckled, glancing at Ren, who was curling up with her baby in a sleeping bag nearby. The young father smiled at the sight of his wife and child before turning to watch the sun as it glistened off the snow-capped peak ahead.

"So the night begins…" Pegasus whispered as he watched from his post nearby. Undoubtedly, the Liberators would try to attack, assuming they knew where Gingka was at the moment. Pegasus turned his attention towards the dark, silent form of Koma Village, which was barely within visual range now that the sun had set. A heavy sigh escaped Pegasus's lips as he turned his attention to the stars, which were rapidly coming out overhead.

"There you are, old friend…" Pegasus smiled slightly as he spotted the constellation that he now shared a name with. It glittered brightly overhead, seemingly shining brighter than the others. Pegasus slowly reached up with one blue-gloved hand, grasping the feather-shaped clip that held his cloak together. A flash of light illuminated the inside of the cloak before he threw it off, leaping into the air and spreading a pair of blue wings to their fullest extent. After a few seconds of soaring upwards, he leveled out and allowed the wind to carry him wherever it would, while he glanced back from time to time at his own twelve-foot wingspan. The moonlight reflected in his eyes soon changed to a brilliant, glowing blue as lightning flashed all around him, lighting up the sky brilliantly.

The next morning, Madoka awoke to a tickling sensation on her face. She wrinkled her nose slightly as she opened her eyes and sat up, only to find that the feeling was coming from Gingka's wings, which had apparently grown overnight and were now nearly two feet each in length. The brunette blinked in surprise at this, wondering how large the wings would grow before they were finished. Madoka crawled out of her sleeping bag with a sigh, deciding to make breakfast.

"Mmm.. That smells good." Kentaro said as he woke up.

"It's Madoka's cooking. It's always good." Gingka muttered as he sat up and stretched.

"Your wings grew, by the way." Madoka informed. "They woke me up."

Gingka glanced over his shoulder. "Okay, that… Was fast."

"Apparently it happens when you're asleep." Ryo said.

"So it does." Gingka muttered. "You'd think I'd have noticed the extra weight when I sat up, but I didn't until Madoka mentioned it."

"Are they… Heavy?" Zero asked curiously.

"Not really… Just feels weird because it's not something that's normally there, y'know?" Gingka sighed, standing and nearly falling over backwards due to the extra weight.

"Careful there." Kentaro said. "We don't want another dislocated wing now, do we?"

"No… Not at all." Gingka chuckled. "Well, I suppose I'd better get back to it."

"Not until you've eaten." Madoka said, getting breakfast started. "You are sitting right there until you eat."

"Yes, Mother." Gingka said sarcastically, earning himself a sharp glare from Madoka and some snickering from everyone else.

"... Shut up, Gingka." Madoka said before turning back to her cooking.

Gingka merely smirked, stretching his wings. A crackling noise overhead attracted the group's attention, causing them to all look up.

"What… Is that…" Ryo breathed, spotting a large, crackling ball of electricity soaring overhead at high speed. It went to Mount Hagane and landed on top, disappearing.

"... I have one guess." Gingka said, standing.

"And that is…?" Ryo and the others turned to the redhead.

"... I think… That… Was Pegasus…"

"But… Why Mount Hagane? He left a note here. Is there some sort of clue up the Snowy Mountain that he wanted us to find that'd direct us to Mount Hagane?"

"If there is one, then we'd better follow it." Gingka sighed.

The others looked at him.

"Pegasus apparently knows what he's doing more than we do, so we may as well just follow what he says." Gingka said. "So I have to get through that gate. Even if he is actually atop Mount Hagane, there's got to be some challenge on the Snowy Mountain that I have to pass before meeting him. He's hiding from us until I beat it, and until I do, I don't think he'll let us see him."

"He's obviously got the speed and ability to evade us as much as he wants." Ryo said. "Gingka's got a point. Looks like we'll stick around here then."

"Gingka's still not trying that gate again until he eats." Madoka said firmly.

"I don't think you can stop him, Madoka." Ryo said, pointing to the gate, which Gingka had already reached and was pushing against.

"Maybe if you tried a different method?" Zero called. "Obviously just raw pushing doesn't work."

"Like what?" Gingka yelped as he fell on his face.

"Twenty-five." Kentaro called.

"I don't know. Running at it and slamming into it first?" Zero suggested.

"What about all of that power running through your veins?" Madoka asked. "If you could use that, then wouldn't it be easy? That is the power your bey held, isn't it?"

"That's just the problem. I have no clue how to do that." Gingka sighed, standing and stretching.

"It can't be too different than making an attack with your bey." Zero said. "Here, let's try something." he stood.

"Hmm?" Gingka turned to the younger man, raising an eyebrow as Zero raised his launcher.

"Zero?! What are you doing?!" Ren yelped.

"If this power is from his bey, then using it can't be that different than using a bey, right?" Zero asked.

"Zero, I still can't beybattle you. You know that." Gingka said, frowning.

"I'm not asking for a beybattle. I'm saying that if I'm right, you should be able to attack in much the same way as you could when you had Pegasus. Ifrit would make a good target, since it's a bey." Zero explained, launching. "So try it."

Gingka still looked skeptical. Zero narrowed his eyes, and, before anyone could stop him, sent Ifrit flying straight for Gingka. The redhead's eyes flashed brilliantly for an instant as he tensed before automatically flinging an arm to the side. Zero smirked triumphantly as a bolt of lightning flew from Gingka's fingertips, striking Ifrit and sending it flying back. The others gasped in shock. Gingka's eyes widened and he looked at his hand in disbelief.

"D-did he… Just…" Ryo's mouth hung open in shock.

"... So that's how I'm supposed to do it, huh?" Gingka blinked, rubbing his fingertips against each other as tiny sparks crackled around his hand.

"Now try it on the door." Zero challenged. Gingka turned, looking up and down the enormous wooden structure.

"Okay then." He muttered. "Let's do this, Pegasus."

The others stood together in a rather tense group as Gingka closed his eyes and concentrated, clenching his fists at his sides. Electricity crackled around his hands for a few seconds before he opened his eyes, which were now glowing a brilliant blue.

"Okay then… Let's try this." The redhead muttered, crouching slightly before leaping for the door in a flash of lightning. The others shielded their faces as several bolts of lightning struck from nowhere. An explosion kicked up a ton of dust, blocking Gingka and the gate from view.

"Gingka?" Madoka called nervously, coughing and sneezing out dust.

"He did it!" Ryo pointed at the gates, which were wide open.

"You guys coming then?" Gingka's voice called as the dust was blown away by a couple of wing flaps.

"... Okay, that worked. Good call, Zero." Madoka said.

"Let's go then." Ryo said, getting up and beginning to pack up camp.

"Gingka, go on ahead." Kentaro said. "This is your fight to continue. We'll be right behind you."

"Are you sure?" Gingka looked hesitant. "What if the Liberators come after you guys because they can't find me?"

"Don't worry about us, Gingka. We can handle it. Plus, if Pegasus is keeping an eye on the Liberators like you said he seemed to be doing, then we'll be fine."

"He was keeping an eye on me, I think." Gingka sighed. "But okay. Be careful."

"You too." Madoka said nervously, smiling at Gingka as the heavy gates closed, hiding the redhead from view.

"It will be a while before they see him again…" Pegasus sighed, still watching from Mount Hagane. "But, I suppose that is to be expected. It will take them a while to pack up their camp and get through that gate, and once they've done that, it will be quite some time before they catch up to Gingka. I suppose I had better get moving myself, so that I am there when they arrive."

Gingka, meanwhile, began walking up the mountain, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. He could barely believe that he had just opened the gate without assistance and with his new powers. The question was, just what were his abilities? This was the question that had driven him here, and this was the question that would hopefully soon be answered. He merely had to reach the icy caverns that Pegasus had indicated.

Gingka sighed. "Will this even work…?" he wondered. "I suppose there's only one way to find out, but still…" he sighed and looked up at the mountaintop looming over his head. "It's a long climb, but it's going to be worth it. It's got to be. The powers I'm supposed to gain… If what we saw earlier was any indication of what I'll end up with, then this has to be done. Otherwise I can't even protect myself."

"So it begins… And soon… They will all know… They will know all. Everything will become clear."

* * *

**Yay for nice ominous endings with Pegasus speaking! XD Seeya guys next week, Galaxy out!**


	14. Attack

**I'm back! Slightly later than usual, but enjoy this chapter! And enjoy seeing a bunch more of Pegasus than before. You're welcome.**

* * *

"How far up do you think he is?"

"Who knows? He could have reached that cavern by now. Hopefully he has with this storm that's coming in."

"Gingka…."

Everyone paused what they were doing for a moment to look up at the mountain towering over their heads.

"We'd better get moving if we're gonna catch up to him." Kentaro said.

"We have to open the gate ourselves first." Ryo pointed out.

"Not too much of a problem. There are six bladers here, are there not?"

"Five. Madoka's not a blader." Ren said.

"Well, five is enough to open a door." Kentaro chuckled.

"One is enough with enough power. I bet Zero could probably do it, or at least he could come close." Ryo said. "After all, Gingka has opened it twice now on his own power."

"He's a lot stronger than I am though." Zero said.

"Hold on a second. Zero, you gained quite a bit of power while Gingka was comatose, remember? Even if you couldn't beat him five years ago, I think you have to be at least at the level of power he was when he opened that gate before with his bey." Madoka said, pulling out her laptop and typing rapidly. The others leaned over her shoulder.

"You still have his old Storm Pegasus data on there?" Ryo blinked in surprise.

"It's Gingka we're talking about here. Do you have any clue how many times I've been asked to compare someone else's data to his?" Madoka laughed.

"Didn't you tell me the other day that you'd lost count a long time ago?" Ren said.

"True." Madoka chuckled. "But, if I take Gingka's stats from fourteen years ago, and compare them to Zero's stats now…" the brunette trailed off. "There! Zero has plenty of power!"

"His stats are double what Gingka's were back then." Ryo whistled. "He can definitely do it then."

"What about what Gingka's were before this transformation?" Ren asked. "You know, the last time you gathered data on Gingka."

Madoka typed for a few seconds before chuckling. "He's still got Zero beat there."

"... By how much…?" Zero asked slowly.

Madoka chuckled as she turned her laptop around for Zero to see. The Ifrit blader's eyes nearly popped out of his head before he sat down, staring at the ground in disbelief.

"No fair…" He whined.

"Gingka still had you beat by about five hundred percent." Madoka laughed.

"Meaning he was five times as powerful as Zero is now?" Ryo chuckled.

"... I'll catch up eventually." Zero muttered.

"Eventually." Ren snorted.

Zero glared playfully at his wife. "You wanna start this now?"

Ren giggled. "We don't have time, baka." She said, flicking his nose.

"Hey!" "Zero exclaimed, crossing his arms and pouting.

"You're still such a child." Ren laughed as she walked off.

"Am not!" Zero protested.

"Actually you are, now how long is it going to take you to catch up to your friend, because the Liberators are coming after you. I managed to throw them off his trail for the moment."

The group whirled, but saw no one.

"Come out, why don't you? You give all this talk about keeping the Liberators off our trail, but are you afraid of us?" Ren challenged.

"I am not afraid of you. It is merely not time for you to actually see me yet."

"And when will it be time?" Ryo challenged.

"Soon. Very soon." Pegasus replied quietly. "For now, you must all hurry and get within the walls around the mountain. As long as you stay here you can be easily trapped, as the Liberators can fly."

"They can fly?" Kentaro said, surprised.

"They… Have rocket boots." Ryo explained.

"I swear they're like something from one of those sci-fi movies." Zero said.

An amused snort sounding partially like that of a horse echoed, causing Ryo and Madoka to glance at each other in surprise.

"Get them!" A malicious-sounding voice echoed.

"Better hurry." Pegasus said.

"Right." Ryo muttered, quickly slipping a backpack onto his shoulder and helping Kentaro and Madoka do theirs.

"Zero?" Kentaro said.

"On it." Zero grunted, quickly launching at the gate. "Ifrit, Burning Uppercut!"

"Not enough distance!" Madoka called as Ifrit bounced right off the door.

"RIght then. One more time, Ifrit!" Zero called, pulling Ifrit back before sending it at the door again just as the Liberators burst out of the trees behind them.

"Here they come!" Ryo exclaimed, launching Fireblaze at the group.

"Gryphon!" Kentaro exclaimed, launching his own bey.

"Phoenix!" Ren called, launching before grabbing her baby and holding it close.

"Aries!" Hyoma called, also launching.

"Four to seven, huh? Not exactly fair odds for you, is it?" Kusari taunted as he stepped out, his black outfit gleaming menacingly in the sunlight.

"Depends on your definition of fair odds." Ryo said. "And there are five of us here."

"One's focused on opening that silly gate and the other isn't attacking and doesn't fight in the first place anyway." Kusari sneered. "I don't think you're that good at counting."

"One's just hidden from both of our view." Ryo said calmly.

"You're really going to force me into this, huh? Just as I was about to leave, too." Pegasus huffed.

Kusari tensed. "You…"

"Surprise, surprise. Yes, I'm still around despite your pathetic attempt at killing me last night. You even lost two of your allies in that attempt." Pegasus said calmly.

"Their sacrifice will not be in vain." Kusari growled.

"You're lucky that I currently have no intent of killing you as well, otherwise I'd have just taken care of you when you first arrived." Pegasus said.

"If you even knew when we first arrived." Kusari huffed.

"Three days ago at 1:45 in the afternoon, in Metal Bey City, in the exact center of Bey Coliseum." Pegasus replied calmly.

"How did you know that?!" Kusari gasped.

"You'll be telling someone that fairly soon and I was watching you arrive." Pegasus said. "Now I suggest you get out of here before I decide to paralyze two of your allies. You only have five left including yourself, after all. Wouldn't it be better to save your strength? You know that you cannot beat me."

Kusari growled, pointing his gun and firing it off in several directions at random.

"Hint: I'm not in any of the directions you fired." Pegasus said ominously.

"Show yourself!" Kusari exclaimed, continuing to fire.

"... Are those lasers? These guys really are straight from a sci-fi movie." Madoka muttered.

"Guys, I got it!" Zero called as the door creaked and opened.

"Go!" Kentaro exclaimed, running off with a speed that was fairly surprising for his age. Ren and Madoka followed, with Ryo, Hyoma, and Zero bringing up the rear.

"Get them!" Kusari exclaimed, sending two of the Liberators after them while he and the other two continued firing randomly in their search for Pegasus.

"Close the gate!" Ryo exclaimed. Zero caught Ifrit out of the air as he continued running. The gate slowly began to close, the Liberators choosing to go up and over the wall.

"So much for 'only those who are worthy may enter.'" Ryo muttered under his breath as he continued running.

"Get him!" Kusari could be heard yelling as the sound of beating hooves was heard.

Ryo and the others yelped and ducked as laser fire streaked past them, the Liberators taking to the skies as the gates closed.

"What in the world…?" Kentaro breathed as he spotted it, or rather, him. Pegasus was galloping in a zig-zag pattern towards them.

"Okay, so apparently he can turn into the actual animal." Ryo panted as he ran, glancing back at the armored winged horse.

"Forget him, just keep running! I think I see a cave up ahead!" Hyoma pointed.

"Get inside!" Kentaro exclaimed, running inside and quickly going to the back of the cave.

Madoka and the others quickly ducked inside, panting. Ryo and Zero stood watch as Pegasus kept zig-zagging up the mountainside, dodging burst after burst of laser fire. Madoka tensed at the sound of a loud, pained whinny.

"What happened?!" She asked, panting.

"He got hit." Ryo breathed. "They shot him."

Madoka darted to the front of the cave, looking wide-eyed at the now-fallen winged horse laying motionless on the ground.

"We have to save him." Zero said determinedly, launching Ifrit once more and running out of the cave. Ryo and Hyoma sighed and followed.

"You're finished, Pegasus." Kusari smirked as he and the others landed in a circle around the fallen horse.

"Burning Uppercut!" A wall of flames suddenly rose between Pegasus and the Liberators, causing the black-clad group to leap back with a startled yelp.

"Burning Fire Strike!"

"Horn Throw Destruction!"

"Fine then! But he will not survive long!" Kusari growled. "Liberators, retreat! We search for the other, the greater threat!" In a flash, all five had flown off.

"Well, that was surprisingly easy." Zero commented, catching his bey out of the air.

"One problem though." Ryo said, kneeling next to the head of the motionless winged horse. "They just took down their main threat. Now they're after Gingka, and without Pegasus he may be completely defenseless."

"Is he…" Hyoma asked.

Ryo frowned and placed the back of his hand across Pegasus's nose.

"He's still breathing, barely." the redhead reported with a sigh.

"Perhaps taking this armor off would help?" Hyoma suggested, looking at all of the shining metal that was hiding most of the winged horse from view.

"Does it even come off?" Zero asked.

"Only one way to find out." Hyoma said, looking for some sort of buckle.

Within minutes, Madoka had come out of the cave and joined them, her eyes widening at the near-white winged horse that was laying on the ground, wings outstretched.

"Can you hear us?" Hyoma asked, still examining the armor around the horse's ribcage.

"He's.. Beautiful." Madoka whispered, joining Ryo next to Pegasus's head.

"In a surreal way." Ryo agreed.

Madoka shakily reached out and laid a hand on the light blue nose that protruded from beneath the armor covering Pegasus's face. "This armos doesn't look too comfortable.." The brunette said. "At least not to lie down in."

"He's bleeding a bit." Hyoma frowned.

"Where was he hit?" Ryo asked, glancing over the horse's body.

"Several places. All right in between the joints of his armor too, those guys must have really good aim."

"Then he's good at dodging for having evaded them for so long." Ryo sighed.

"Pegasus?" Madoka said softly as a low moan escaped the horse.

"Hnnnn…."

"Can you hear us?" Hyoma asked as a light blue glow came from beneath the armor on the horse's head.

A slight shiver ran through Pegasus's body before he raised his head slightly and tried to get up, only to slowly sink back to the ground.

"Just rest. The Liberators left to go after Gingka." Ryo said.

The glow of Pegasus's eyes brightened at this as he once again tried to get up, snorting weakly.

"Just rest." Madoka said sternly.

"But…"

"You're too injured. Rest. Now." Madoka growled under her breath.

"I… Have to… Protect…"

"Gingka can protect himself. He figured out how to fire off lightning bolts and you said yourself that you threw them off his trail. Better listen to Madoka, she won't take no for an answer in matters like this." Ryo said.

"Does this armor of yours come off?" Hyoma asked. "I think it'd be easier to breathe if it was off."

As soon as Hyoma had finished speaking, the armor glowed, then disappeared into a shower of glowing blue sparks that disappeared back into Pegasus.

"... Well that was easy." Hyoma said.

"We… Should get to shelter…" Pegasus muttered, wincing as he once more tried to move. "Too out in the open…"

"Just relax. We'll be fine. I doubt we could carry you, but if you could… Turn human?" Ryo suggested.

"Can't… No energy…" Pegasus breathed.

"There's gotta be some way." Ryo frowned.

Pegasus let out a low, ethereal whinny in response. Almost instantly, Zero yelped and leapt back as the glowing figure of Ifrit appeared, looking around calmly. A small, pained smirk appeared on Pegasus's face as the group stared at it in shock. Another whinny from Pegasus, and the flaming creature had lifted the winged horse and was carrying it to the cave.

"Well… That solves that problem." Ryo said, blinking and following.

Within minutes, Pegasus had been laid on one of the tarps used to protect their sleeping bags, and Madoka and Kentaro were occupied treating the horse's wounds.

"You'll be alright… Right?" Madoka asked softly as she sat down next to the head of the winged horse and began stroking its cheek.

"Yeah…." Pegasus muttered, closing his eyes and drifting slowly off to sleep.

* * *

"Alright, this is where you said to come, so where are you?!" Gingka's voice echoed through the icy cave as he entered, looking around with a slight frown on his face as he wrapped his wings around him.

"Pegasus?"

"Found you, Hagane!"

Gingka gasped sharply.

* * *

**Yay for cliffhangers! Yay for Pegasus being actually seen for once! Yay for a high chance of the next main plot twist being in the next chapter, although it might still be longer! Yay for being hyper while writing ANs! Galaxy out!**


	15. Flight

**Yay for chapter 15! Yay for plot twists, and major ones at that! Yay for random plot twists that I come up with two days before finishing the chapter and decide to randomly add in! Enjoy!**

* * *

"We found you, Hagane!"

Gingka gasped sharply and whirled, only to see the Liberators standing behind him. His eyes narrowed.

"So, you finally caught up to me, huh?"

"You will die here and now." Kusari said.

"What do you want with me, anyway?!" Gingka asked.

"You're the only one who will have the ability to stop us. We're going to wipe you out before you ever get to that point!"

"I tend to be able to do that anyway."

"Not any more." Kusari smirked as he and the others raised their weapons. "Pegasus can't even come to save you now."

"What…?!" Gingka tensed.

"We shot him down before coming to find you. And you do not yet have the strength to beat us. That's why we came back here to fight you now!"

"Came back?" Gingka raised an eyebrow as he took a battle stance.

"Oh, have we not explained that? Well, too bad! Fire!" Kusari said.

Gingka darted behind a large icicle to hide as laser fire erupted from the five figures standing in front of him.

"What do I do now…?" He muttered under his breath as his eyes flashed brilliantly. With Pegasus gone, and the others still far down the mountain, he was on his own. All he knew was that he had to survive. The Liberators couldn't be allowed to continue with whatever their plan was. He would stop them. The only question was, how? Before all of this, the answer would have been simple: Take them out in a bey battle. But these guys clearly weren't bladers, and they definitely wanted to kill him rather than just beat him in a bey battle anyway. Plus, considering the fact that he was now combined with his bey, a battle like before was impossible… Or was it?

Gingka glanced around the icicle he was hidden behind, the memory of how he had opened that gate a few hours ago flashing in his mind.

"Just give up. You don't possess the strength to beat us." Kusari taunted. "This is now a mere game of cat-and-mouse, and you're the mouse.

"Wrong." Gingka said, suddenly getting an idea. "I'm the cat."

In the next instant, before Kusari or the other Liberators could react, Gingka had leapt out of hiding and fired several lightning bolts at the roof of the cave.

"Get him!" Kusari snarled as several icicles fell in front of him and the others, forcing them to leap back.

"Alright then, let's test these things." Gingka muttered, spreading his wings and darting off. Soon enough, he found that he could use them to lighten his steps, although flight was impossible. The Liberators could be heard yelling behind him, their voices echoing through the cave and causing a few icicles to begin falling. Gingka darted left and right, firing lightning at a few icicles and causing them to explode into steam before they hit him.

"Don't let him escape! We will kill him here and now!" Kusari snarled as even more laser fire blazed through the air.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Gingka smirked as he spotted his exit, which was luckily still clear from fourteen years ago when he had come up the mountain the first time. One darting movement, and he was outside. A couple of punching motions, and the exit had collapsed. Gingka took a deep breath to calm himself down before turning and facing back down the mountain.

"What now…?" He muttered, then gasped and fell to his knees, gripping his head. "What in the world…?!"

"I apologize for the sudden shock, but it was necessary to contact you directly, and I do not currently have the ability to even stand, much less climb the mountain." Pegasus' s voice echoed in his mind, sounding weak.

"So you are still alive?" Gingka said.

"Obviously." Pegasus snorted. "The Liberators were only able to injure me before your friends came to the rescue. I am currently in a cave closer to the base of the mountain, with them. By now I assume you have escaped the Liberators, at least for the moment, You must hurry down. it will not take them long to get out of that cave."

"How do you even know all of this?"

"That's not important, just get down the mountain! Now!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" Gingka sighed as he stood, then yelped as thunder rolled overhead. "A storm, huh? I'd better make this quick. Don't wanna get caught in that." The redhead then began running down the mountain, gliding for a few seconds every once in a while. The sound of an explosion and yelling spurred the redhead onwards, as he went faster and faster down the mountain.

* * *

"Pegasus? You need to rest!" Madoka said, running over to the horse as he began trying to stand, tucking his legs underneath him.

"I'll be fine... My wounds have already begun to heal." Pegasus replied quietly.

"Just rest. Even if your wounds heal abnormally fast, you still have to regain your strength. It hasn't even been half an hour since you were injured!" Ryo said.

Pegasus's eyes flashed as he glowed and stood, planting all four feet wide apart as his sides heaved, his head lowered as he closed his eyes. Madoka and the others watched him worriedly as his legs trembled slightly.

"Pegasus…" Ryo muttered.

"Gingka's coming. The Liberators will be right behind him."

"Huh? How do you know that?" Zero asked confusedly.

"I told him where we were and told him to come… They're chasing him… He's coming here." Pegasus replied.

"We'd better be ready for them then. You stay down. You need your rest." Ryo said firmly.

Pegasus shook his head, raising it slightly. "No… You don't know how they fight… You saw part of what they can do. They will kill you, or they will try. The irony is that if they succeed in killing Gingka now, they may disappear, ironically enough for them…"

"What do you mean?" Ryo asked slowly.

"You haven't noticed? Think about it… Their technology… It isn't from this time. It's impossible, is it not?"

"Are you saying…" Zero said slowly.

"That the Liberators… Are from the future?" Ren finished.

Pegasus raised his head fully, tossing his mane as his eyes flashed brilliantly. "Precisely. Gingka defeats them in the future. They have invented a form of time travel and are trying to stop him before he defeats them. But, if they kill him here, then they will never fight him in the future, and either their plan will work, or they'll never know to come back in time to kill him."

"That… Hurts my brain…" Madoka said slowly, trying to wrap her mind around what the winged horse had just said.

"In short: If the Liberators kill Gingka here, then he won't exist in the future. They will have no need to come back and defeat him here. He will be alive here. Then they will have to come back. That cycle could repeat endlessly."

Ryo frowned. "So… We can't let them kill Gingka or….?"

"Aside from the obvious fact that none of you want your friend dead in the first place, we don't know what could happen and it could extremely mess up something within the world. That is, if any of the fiction dealing with time travel is an indicator."

"... I suppose we've only got one thing to do then." Ryo said.

"Obviously. But you don't know how to fight them."

"And you do?"

"I've fought them before, remember?" Pegasus said. "There's even more that would be messed up among the Liberators' plan if they were to kill Gingka here, but… I will not explain that, as it is unnecessary. Now we must hurry. They are close."

"You stay and rest. We will fight." Ryo said. "You can tell us what to do."

"No! That will never work… They do not fight with beys, as you have already seen. They would mow all of you down in an instant with laser fire, and it is not only Gingka who needs to be protected here!"

"How do you know so much?!" Madoka demanded.

"That doesn't matter."

"Yes it does!" Ryo exclaimed. "We don't even know if we can trust-" He was interrupted by an explosion from outside. Pegasus grunted under his breath, then turned around and bolted out of the cave, his armor reappearing as he let out a loud, piercing whinny.

"Pegasus!" Gingka's voice could be heard exclaiming. Ryo and the others rushed out, just in time to spot Gingka come tumbling down the mountain before being half-caught by the back of his shirt as Pegasus snatched him out of the air.

"Pay close attention. Things will change very fast." Pegasus said as he released Gingka before galloping powerfully towards the Liberators, spreading his wings to their full 15-foot wingspan as lightning came from the storm cloud above and gathered around him.

"Whoa…" Gingka whispered, staring wide-eyed.

"Get back!" Kusari shouted, flying away from Pegasus as the winged horse flapped powerfully and blew all five Liberators to the ground before flipping upside down in midair and soaring back to Gingka. The redhead looked up in awe, then leapt aside as Pegasus landed next to him, transforming in a flash of light to a cloaked figure.

"Your turn."

Gingka's eyes widened. "Uh… How am I supposed to account for what are undoubtedly years of experience in a mere two seconds?"

"Easy." Pegasus said, suddenly slipping his hands under Gingka's feet and launching the redhead high into the air.

"Uwahh!" Gingka yelped, his eyes going wide.

"Use your instinct!" Pegasus said, reaching up with one hand and holding his hood over his face as he tilted his head and looked up.

"What in the world are you doing?!" Ryo exclaimed in shock.

"Teaching him how to fly." Pegasus said as Gingka's wings suddenly lengthened and straightened, causing the redhead to go into a steep glide.

"Whoa…" Zero whispered, staring wide-eyed as Gingka lowered one wingtip and soared in a tight spiral, his eyes glowing brilliantly.

"Get him!" Kusari growled.

"If you kill him, Kusari, then you will disappear immediately." Pegasus warned. "The others likely will as well, but your position in all of this is the most fragile."

"I am well aware of that." Kusari snarled, taking aim.

"Then you merely secure his position as the one threat remaining to your goals. You fire, he gains practice in aerial dodging." Pegasus said.

"For all of his talk about 'don't let Gingka die' he sure is relaxed." Ryo commented with a slight sweatdrop as Gingka was forced to perform several midair twists and turns to dodge a sudden burst of laser fire from the ground.

"I was trained this same way." Pegasus said calmly, joining the group in a flash.

"... Somehow I doubt that means that this is the best way to do it." Madoka said slowly.

"Perhaps not, but it's this or he dies."

"And if he dies doing this?" Ryo asked.

"He won't." Pegasus replied.

How do you know that?!" Madoka demanded.

"I didn't die doing it. He won't die doing it. We're more alike than you think."

"Considering you have the same powers, I'm not surprised." Ryo said. "But still, you and he are completely different from each other."

"I suppose…" Pegasus said, lowering his head slightly and looking at the ground.

"Where'd that horse go?" Kentaro suddenly asked, coming out of the cave with a carrot in hand.

"Uh… Dad? What are you doing?" Ryo asked slowly, blinking in surprise at his father.

"Well, horses like carrots, don't they?" Kentaro asked. "Even if it is a superpowered, supposedly mythological one. Now where did the little whippersnapper get off to?" he looked around.

Ryo and the others turned towards Pegasus, only to spot an enormous sweatdrop hanging over his cloak as he stared at Kentaro, his body language showing that he was completely stunned at Kentaro's antics.

"Well?" Kentaro said, looking around.

"I'm… Right here…" Pegasus said slowly.

Kentaro blinked. "You're the one?"

"... I can transform from human to animal form, yes…" Pegasus replied.

"Oh. Well here then, I grabbed this for you." Kentaro said, handing Pegasus the carrot with a large grin plastered across his face.

"... Thanks?" Pegasus said, glancing down at the carrot in his blue-gloved hand before tucking it somewhere beneath his cloak.

"You're welcome!" Kentaro beamed before turning and looking up. "Is that my grandson in the air?"

"... He's completely oblivious." Zero whispered.

"Always been that way." Pegasus mumbled. "It runs in the family, trust me."

"How old are you, anyway?" Madoka asked.

"I'm- Look out!" Pegasus yelped, diving and shoving Madoka and Ryo out of the way as Gingka crash landed nearly on top of them.

"This ends here and now, whether you're my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather or not!" Kusari snarled, stepping up in front of Gingka.

"... My what?!" Gingka exclaimed, leaping to his feet and staring Kusari down.

Pegasus stepped between the two. "Kusari is your descendant, to put it shorter than he did. He is also a descendant of mine."

"... Does that mean we're related?" Gingka asked.

"In a way. Yes."

* * *

**Bam. Three plot twists in one chapter. You're welcome. XD First we find out that the Liberators are from the future, then Gingka and Kusari are related, then Gingka and Pegasus are related 'in a way,' as Pegasus said. Hinting and foreshadowing galore! I think. Something like that, lol. Anyway, until next time, Galaxy out!**


	16. Pegasus

**GUYSTHISISTHESECONDTOLASTCHAPTERWOOHOO!**

**Gingka:... Excited much?**

**Me: Duh, because my main plot twist is in this chapter! Enjoy, peeps!**

**Gingka; ... Peeps?**

* * *

"No way…"

"We're related?" Gingka raised an eyebrow. "Is that how you knew so much?"

Pegasus opened his mouth to reply, only to suddenly be blown backwards by an explosion that sent everyone flying. Gingka quickly caught Kentaro and carefully set him down before flying to Madoka to help her up.

"Are you alright?" the redhead asked, gently lifting Madoka from the ground and getting her back on her feet.

"I… Think so…" She whispered, trembling.

"Madoka…" Gingka said, pulling her close to him protectively.

"Yes?" Madoka said, looking up at him.

"A-After this is over… Will you marry me?" Gingka asked.

Madoka blushed. "Yes… Yes I will." She said, hugging him tightly.

Gingka smiled brightly. "Then I'd better hurry up, shouldn't I?"

"Be careful." Madoka said.

"I will." Gingka kissed her forehead, then turned, his eyes flashing and glowing. He attacked instinctively, spreading his now-five-foot-long wings and taking to the skies, firing several lightning bolts at the Liberators, who soon scattered for cover.

"Where's Pegasus?" Kentaro asked.

"He was right there…" Ryo muttered, looking around.

"Guys! Over here!" Zero called, lifting a brown cloak from the ground and looking around.

"That's his cloak… But where is he?" Ryo asked.

"From what we saw earlier, his cloak is basically his Pegasus armor… So he didn't transform, if I'm correct, this would have transformed too and been on him. " Ren said.

"No, it's been naturally unclasped. He took it off. It wasn't blown off of him." Ryo said, examining the silver feather-shaped clasp.

An explosion soon drew the attention of the group back to Gingka and the Liberators, as the redhead dove down and managed to blow up the rocks beneath the Liberators, sending all five of them flying. A brilliant blue streak snatched Kusari out of the air before darting to the top of the mountain with him.

"Well, there's Pegasus." Madoka said calmly.

"Four to go. Should we go help Gingka?" Ryo asked.

"Does he need it?" Zero chuckled, watching as Gingka soared overhead with the remaining four Liberators following him.

"We may as well still get most of them off his back." Ryo said as the Liberators pulled out their weapons and began firing.

"Right. Ifrit!" Zero launched and sent his bey flying into the rocket boot of one of the Liberators, sending the black-clad figure careening out of control and causing him to crash into the ground.

"Nice shot, Zero!" Ren whooped.

"Alright, my turn. Aries!" Hyoma launched.

"Gryphon!" Kentaro launched as well, surprisingly powerfully for his age.

"That's the spirit, dad. Fireblaze!"

"Phoenix!"

"Look out!" Gingka shouted as two of the Liberators began attacking the others.

"Get behind me!" Ryo, Zero, and Hyoma leapt in front of Kentaro, Madoka, and Ren.

"Gingka!" Madoka yelped, looking worried as Gingka was tackled out of the air by Kusari, who had apparently managed to escape Pegasus. The two went down behind a few large rocks, kicking up dust as they landed.

"Gingka!" Ryo and Zero began running towards the spot, hoping that Gingka was alright. A few bursts of laser fire sounded from behind the rock before it became silent.

"Please be okay… Please.." Ryo whispered, before skidding to a stop, his eyes widening as he heard a scream from Madoka.

"Madoka!" Ren yelped as the brunette was lifted and tossed into the air by one of the Liberators, who aimed at her as she fell.

"Not on my watch!" Pegasus's voice sounded as the Liberator fired, merely an instant before a blue flash of lightning struck him out of the sky. Madoka cried out as she was struck.

"Someone catch her!" Ryo shouted, bolting towards the falling brunette. A brilliant streak of blue flame flashed, and Madoka was gone. Ryo skidded to a stop in confusion.

"Pegasus took her." Zero whispered.

"Gahh!" a pained yell came from behind the rocks where Gingka and Kusari had disappeared.

"Don't mess with me!" Gingka's voice rang out angrily.

"He's alright…" Ryo sighed in relief as the redhead leapt back into view, looking down behind the rocks.

"You will not win! I may disappear if I kill you now, but you will not win!" Kusari shouted as he flew up, gripping one arm with his opposite hand.

"Your arm is broken and I now know how to use my powers, at least mostly." Gingka replied. "Plus, looking around, you're outnumbered. There are only five of you and eight of us, including Pegasus."

"Then why do I only see six?" Kusari sneered.

Gingka tensed, glancing behind him for an instant.

"Your future wife has just been shot down." One of the other Liberators reported.

Gingka's eyes widened and constricted.

"Pegasus caught her and took her off somewhere. Focus on the battle, Gingka!" Ryo called.

"Ground him!" Kusari exclaimed, raising his gun with his good arm and firing.

"No!" Ryo yelled as one of Gingka's wings was damaged, causing the redhead to tumble to the ground.

"Gingka!" Ren and Hyoma yelped as Ryo and Zero rushed to defend the fallen redhead.

"I'm okay!" Gingka called, standing as lightning flared from his body. He carefully folded both wings, his eyes glowing brilliantly.

"Finish it." Kusari growled.

"Not on our watch!" Ryo, Hyoma, Zero, Kentaro, and Ren shouted.

"Ren, make sure the baby is okay." Sero said, hearing cries from inside their cave. Ren ran inside, leaving her Phoenix to spin outside.

"Fireblaze, Burning Fire Strike!" Ryo called, disarming one of the Liberators and knocking him unconscious.

"Feels weird to be attacking people, but I suppose we have no choice. Aries, Horn Throw Destruction!" Hyoma said, launching another Liberator into the air, along with some rocks.

"Get control of yourselves, you idiots!" Kusari snapped.

"Ifrit, Burning Tornado Uppercut!" Zero said, striking Kusari's rocket boots and causing him to go careening out of control before smashing into a rock, cracking the helmet he was wearing.

"This ends now!" Gingka yelled. "Leave me and my friends alone!"

"No!" Kusari threw his helmet to the side, revealing his close-cropped red hair and golden-brown eyes.

"Why then?" Gingka asked. "You're a descendant of mine. Killing me now means you never existed. So why kill me?!"

"Because then there will be a future for the cause I work for!" Kusari said.

"And that is what, exactly?!" Gingka snarled.

"Reviving the God of Destruction." Kusari snarled. "And next time you won't be able to beat him. We revived him once to try to kill you. You shouldn't have taken that deal. We thought you wouldn't have known about it yet."

"Well then, it's a good thing that Pegasus did." Gingka snapped back. "You should have killed him first if you wanted your plan to succeed."

"If only that were possible, then we would have done so." Kusari snarled. "We've been fighting him for a long time. A very long time."

"Enough, Kusari!"

The very ground seemed to shake as Pegasus's voice thundered.

"Madoka!" Ren exclaimed in relief as the brunette appeared out of seemingly nowhere, looking dizzy.

"Is… It really necessary… To fly that fast…?" Madoka muttered before half-collapsing, Ryo catching her.

Kusari growled. "You."

"This ends now, Kusari. I had hoped that it would never have had to come to this. I raised you and now you turn on me. Continue attacking and I will have to kill you."

"You never could." Kusari growled, looking around in an attempt to locate Pegasus.

"I have the ability."

"You never would, that's your problem. You're too soft." Kusari smirked. "You'd never kill me simply because you raised me. You always had this weird way of hoping that I'd end up coming back to you, coming back to my parents, to your side, but I never will. And you'll never kill me because I'm family."

"What is he talking about…?" Ren muttered.

"Guys…" Madoka muttered, regaining her balance and standing as Gingka flew to her and supported her.

"If you leave me no choice, then I will."

"You're too soft! Do it, I dare you!" Kusari held out his arms, a crazed look in his eyes. "You don't have the willpower to kill someone you once loved, when you never should have loved me! I betrayed you, yet you still care! You're a soft idiot!"

"Hang on, Madoka. You'll be alright." Gingka said.

"Gingka… Seriously." Madoka said quietly, gripping onto the redhead's arm.

"Kusari, I raised you knowing that you would do this."

Kusari gasped at Pegasus's words.

"I knew it all. I knew when you would arrive here, and I arrived first. I've been here for many years, waiting."

"What.. is he…?" Ryo muttered.

Kusari growled. "Then why didn't you kill me when I was a baby?! You could have stopped all of this. You could have saved yourself the pain!"

"Then I would have never learned the lesson that I've been learning over the past week."

"This is just getting weirder and weirder." Kentaro muttered.

"Pegasus? You knew that this would all happen?" Gingka called, an undertone of anger in his voice. "Why didn't you just stop it?!"

"If you dare, kill me now!" Kusari yelled. "You can't even do that, and if you don't, then we will win!"

"What's going on here?!" Zero yelled as Ren came up beside him with their child.

"Just finish it!" Ren called.

A blue bolt of light appeared behind Kusari, who immediately whirled, a sadistic grin on his face before he gasped and staggered backwards, electricity crackling around him.

"Never underestimate me…" Pegasus's voice said with a sorrowful tone as he gently guided Kusari to the ground.

"Retreat! The commander is dead! Retreat! We will be back!" the other four exclaimed before disappearing, but nobody seemed to notice. All eyes were focused on Pegasus as he slowly stood.

"Now you know." Pegasus said as he stepped over Kusari's body, black, knee-high boots thumping against the ground. Ryo and the others merely stared at Pegasus, who clenched both of his blue-gloved hands at his sides.

"You knew… You knew that all of this would happen exactly as it did." Gingka said, his eyes wide and mouth open in shock.

Pegasus crossed his arms over his chest, black gauntlets shining over top of the blue fabric of the kimono shirt he was wearing. "How could I not have known… When I had already lived it once?"

"But how is that even possible?!" Ryo exclaimed.

Pegasus's eyes flashed in the sun as he opened them and looked calmly at Ryo, glowing blue meeting with golden-brown before fading to the same shade.

"The Liberators were from the future. Is it all that surprising that I should wait for the time travel to be invented before coming back, if only to see my old friends once more and to begin my own story anew?"

Madoka took a few steps forwards. "Gingka... "

"It's… Been a long time since anyone called me by that name." Pegasus said, a faint smile crossing his lips.

Madoka and the others took it all in: The knee-high black boots with dark blue pants tucked loosely into them, the blue kimono shirt, sleeves tucked into black gauntlets and blue fingerless gloves; the ever-present headband with its Pegasus insignia, which was faded with time, but still held up the blazing red hair; three scars, one on each cheek and one slicing down the lips that were pressed into a slight, brave smile.

"You're… Me." Gingka said.

A slight nod was the only reply.

"Yet you don't look a day older." Madoka said, slowly walking over until she had reached Pegasus. "Not a day older… But your eyes…"

"These eyes have seen much more in the time that I've now lived." Pegasus said softly, looking down at the ground. "Including the death of everyone here… Minus myself, of course."

"How…"

Pegasus's attention shifted to his younger self.

"How much older are you… Exactly?" Gingka asked.

"A little over two thousand years." Pegasus's voice was barely above a whisper as he replied, a tear slipping down his cheek.

"That's… So long… No wonder… There's so much pain." Madoka said, placing one hand on his cheek and swiping away the tear with her thumb. Pegasus pressed a hand atop hers as the dam broke, tears streaming freely down his cheeks as he closed his eyes.

"Shh…" Madoka said, hugging him tightly and rubbing his back.

"I know that you haven't even married me- well, him, yet, but… I missed you." Pegasus whispered.

Madoka smiled softly. "I'll bet you did. I can't wait to see what is now memory for you."

"I had to watch you die... " Pegasus sniffled, burying his face in her hair as he shook with sobs, barely able to speak.

"This is going to be me soon enough… This is what he meant in that letter he wrote a few days ago.." Gingka whispered, finding that he was tearing up as well.

"Hits harder when you see the effects of it.." Ryo muttered, before striding quickly over and wrapping his arms around Pegasus as well.

"Dad…" The winged male whispered as his wings disappeared and he turned, burying his face in Ryo's shirt.

"It's okay to cry when you've been holding it back for two thousand years." Ryo said quietly.

"You're… Still proud of me, right?"

Ryo smiled, pulling back slightly and tracing the back of one hand down one of the scars on Pegasus's face.

"Of course I am. More so than ever."

* * *

**Bam. Some of you saw that coming, I think, but now it's confirmed. MK IF YOU'RE READING THIS THERE AREN'T ANY SPOILERS DOWN HERE IN THE AN. Anyway, this is the second to last chapter, so... As per my usual trend... Have a mysterious paragraph. **

Many people over the years have wondered what kept Beyblade alive. Some might say that it was the Legendary Bladers, but this is only partially true. While we did help the sport recover, and are at the center in the media, we aren't the ones keeping the sport alive. We did protect it, like a suit of armor, and you can count on us being the ones on the front lines when a threat comes, but the sport can and will live on when we're gone. No, we aren't the heartbeat of the sport, but we do create it, as every blader does. Our beys are the heart of Beyblade, and every clash they make with each other is the heartbeat. As long as beys continue to clash around the world, the sport will survive. However, if those clashes, those heated battles ever stop, then the sport will die.

**Those of you who have been following me for a while will already know what this means, those of you who haven't been following me for quite as long...Well, you'll have to wait until the next chapter or go back and read my last few major projects. Now that that's done, Galaxy out!**


	17. Epilogue

**Welp, here it is! The final chapter of Lost in the Echo! Enjoy, but you may want a box of tissues. Just saying. **

* * *

Weeks passed. Gingka, Madoka, and the others returned to Metal Bey City after staying one more week in Koma Village while Pegasus taught Gingka the smaller details of controlling his powers. Ren was more than glad to return to her home after spending a little over a week in the unfamiliar forest, yet somehow they all remained slightly haunted by the sorrow that filled the eyes of Pegasus at all times.

"Is that really what I'll become in two thousand years?" Gingka often wondered. The whole idea seemed so surreal to him, even though he had seen with his own eyes what he would become.

"I said goodbye once… I don't think I could do it again." Pegasus had said just before they had all left Koma Village. Once they were packed up and ready to go, the older one had simply disappeared. None of them knew where he had gone, but they were forced to leave without ever finding out.

* * *

"Ready for your wedding?" Hikaru asked, entering the room where Madoka was nearly finished putting on her wedding dress.

"Not really." Madoka laughed.

Hikaru chuckled. "Well, you have no choice. It's almost time." The bluenette helped her friend lace up the back of her dress, then stepped back and sighed. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks." Madoka said, blushing nervously.

"Go on then. Your fiance and soon-to-be-husband is waiting for you." Hikaru said, smiling.

Madoka blushed further. "You and Kyoya had better be next or else."

Hikaru chuckled. "If only he were interested in that way."

"He is. I can see it in the way he looks at you whenever you're being oblivious to it." Madoka chuckled, lightly lifting her long skirt and walking carefully out of the room.

"Madoka."

The brunette turned at the familiar voice, but saw no one.

"Pegasus? You don't have to hide, you know."

"I'm pretty sure those at your wedding wouldn't appreciate a cloaked figure appearing, and I don't want to have to explain the existence of two of me."

Madoka chuckled. "Perhaps not, but… Disguises?"

"... I hadn't thought of that…"

Madoka chuckled. "Two thousand years older and you're still an idiot."

"Am not!" Pegasus said, punctuating his words with a very horse-like snort.

Madoka giggled. "Yes. Yes you are."

"Better not waste any more time getting to my younger self now. He's already started wondering when you're coming down that aisle, if I remember correctly."

"Right." Madoka sighed. "I'm a little nervous about all this though…"

"Don't be. Everything in the wedding will go perfectly fine, but if you must know, Gingka will make an idiot of himself and a mess of your face when you get to the cake."

"Gee, thanks, because I totally needed to know that. I'll just get him first."

"Remember that I've already seen it happen and beaten you to it. Don't bother. Well, you can try, but… Remember that he's now a lot faster than you're used to him being."

"True." Madoka frowned. "Well, I'm off, because I believe that's the last song before I'm due to walk down the aisle and become Mrs. Hagane."

"I'll see you both after the ceremony. Until then… Well, if you see a few flashes of lightning, you'll know why."

"Got it." Madoka smiled, looking around for a few more moments before jogging lightly down the hallway towards the large room where the ceremony was being held. A slight smile appeared on the face of the hooded figure of Pegasus as he stepped out from behind the large pillar he had been behind. Glowing blue eyes flashed for an instant before he simply disappeared from view.

"Pegasus is here." Madoka whispered to Gingka once she had reached the altar.

"He is? Where?" Gingka asked, looking surprised.

"I don't know, but he said he'd see us after the wedding ceremony." Madoka replied quietly.

"Well then, we'll just enjoy it. I do." Gingka said.

Madoka smiled and nodded ever so slightly. Mere minutes later, all of their friends and family burst out cheering as Gingka leaned in and kissed Madoka deeply, the two wrapping their arms around each other. Only Ryo, Kentaro, Zero, Ren, and Hyoma spotted the slight flash of glowing blue in the rafters above. The five glanced at each other and smiled knowingly.

"Ready for some cake?" Gingka asked as he pulled away from Madoka.

Madoka raised an eyebrow, remembering what Pegasus had told her. "Sure."

Gingka grinned, a mischievous twinkle already in his eyes as he offered his arm to his wife. "Let's go then."

Madoka chuckled, linking her arm with his. "Alright." she said softly as Gingka escorted her back down the aisle.

* * *

"Did you guys see the flash of light in the rafters?" Ryo asked as he sat next to Gingka at the reception.

"Light?" Gingka blinked.

"Pegasus was watching." Zero said. "It had to have been him."

"He is here." Madoka said. "He spoke with me just before I walked down the aisle."

"Huh. Well okay then. Must be strange watching your own wedding when you remember it." Gingka chuckled.

"You haven't the slightest clue, but you will in about two thousand years."

Everyone nearly jumped out of their seats, attracting the attention of the rest of the room.

"Is everything alright over there?" Benkei called, handing a plate to yet another wedding guest.

"Just fine. Madoka saw a spider." Kentaro said quickly, earning several raised eyebrows.

"It was a big one." Madoka chuckled sheepishly, half-glaring at the old man for blaming her. The others in the room chuckled and shook their heads before returning their attention to their food.

"Sorry. I should have warned you that I was here." Pegasus said, chuckling lightly. "But nice save."

"Thanks." Kentaro said.

"If you think you can be fast enough to not be seen then you may as well grab some food."Madoka said.

"I might, but Benkei seems to be keeping a very close eye on those burgers."

"All the more challenging then." Gingka chuckled. "I dare you."

"If you can snatch a burger off the table then I can pull the tablecloth off and hide it without anyone noticing."

"You're on." Gingka grinned.

Before Madoka could open her mouth to protest, Gingka was sitting next to her with a fresh burger and the tablecloth had entirely vanished.

"... You two are idiots." Madoka whispered.

"Well, he started it." Pegasus said as Benkei noticed the missing tablecloth and began to freak out.

"Technically you both did since you're the same person." Madoka said.

"... Touche." Pegasus muttered.

"Alright, now put the tablecloth back." Madoka said.

"Give me about an hour to go untie Julian Konzern from it and I will." Pegasus replied.

Madoka animefell out of her chair. Gingka tried his hardest not to look amused, causing his face to twist into some weird expression. The combination of these two actions attracted the attention of everyone else in the room, causing everyone else at the main table to look away and whistle innocently as if they knew nothing.

"Madoka…? What happened…?" Kenta asked slowly as the brunette got back into her chair, glaring at the air in front of her as if it had committed something extremely atrocious.

"Gingka happened, that's what." Madoka huffed, shooting a sidelong, smirking glance at her husband who pouted.

"... I honestly can't argue with that…" Pegasus's voice said softly. Gingka snorted.

"Is there a horse nearby?" Masamune asked, twisting in his seat.

A second snort came from above the main table, the room going silent as their eyes widened.

"As a matter of fact, there is." Gingka said.

"... I'd try to stop you but I remember doing this myself so I won't bother." Pegasus groaned.

"Masamune, the horse is up. See if you can find it." Gingka said, grinning.

"Gingka… Let's not cause chaos." Madoka whispered.

"Too late." Gingka snickered as Masamune shot up and ran around the room, staring into all the rafters.

"Just ignore him. It'll keep him busy for a bit." Ryo chuckled. Everyone fell silent and returned to eating, until…

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Masamune screeched at an ear-splitting volume, crossing the room in record time, for him.

"I'll let you explain this one as payback." Pegasus snickered before falling silent, causing Gingka to gain a tick mark as several people around the room stood, alarmed.

"It's nothing, everyone. Just a prank." The redhead called. "Reflective stuff in the rafters. Nothing more."

Everyone else in the room looked relieved and began to sit down, but Masamune pointed an accusing finger at Gingka, who raised an eyebrow.

"Then how come it moved?! It jumped from one rafter to another!" The black-haired blader exclaimed.

"... Special effects." Gingka said quickly, his brain freaking out as his eyes scanned the rafters above them.

"You know what? I think it's about time we had cake." Madoka stood. "Benkei?"

"But… Where in the world did the tablecloth go?!" Benkei exclaimed, poking his head out from underneath a nearby table.

"Forget the tablecloth. Are you sure it was there in the first place?" Madoka asked.

Benkei sweatdropped at the brunette. "You helped me put it on the table, remember?"

"... Oh yeah, I did. Weird." Madoka said, trying to shrug it off as if it were nothing.

Gingka sent a sharp glare up at the rafters, while Madoka ignored Benkei. The rest of the wedding went nearly without incident, until, just as Pegasus had said, Gingka used his newly-heightened skills to entirely cover Madoka's face in frosting, much to the amusement (and surprise) of their guests.

* * *

"That was a nice eventful day." Madoka commented that night as they stood on the balcony of a hotel in Tokyo.

"Yeah." Gingka said, sighing contentedly. "Pegasus, if you're there, you can come out now." he said to seemingly nobody in particular. Silence fell for a few minutes before a whooshing and flapping sound was heard, and Pegasus landed on a nearby balcony, a slight yet sad smile on his face as he sat on the railing.

"I'm leaving soon." he announced quietly.

"To go where?"

"Back to the future, to pick up right where I left off when I came here, although then I was only half the age I am now."

"Huh?" Gingka blinked.

"Know this. In one thousand years, when you go back in time, you will end up going back one thousand years too far. How do you think the actual Greek legend of Pegasus started?"

"... It was you?" Madoka blinked.

A smirk flashed across Pegasus's face. "Turned out there were many in the older days who took this deal. The chimera was one of them."

"Now wouldn't that be a story to tell? You've seen a lot of what we only know as history." Madoka said, smiling.

"Well, it was a shocker at first to go from flying cars and teleportation, which I rarely used, to no technology or even running water." Pegasus chuckled. "But I'll leave that story for Gingka himself to find out."

"I have to find out the story that you've already lived then?" Gingka said. "Will we ever meet again like this?"

"Even I don't know the answer to that, but I doubt it." Pegasus said. "After all, you will live a thousand or so more years, travel back in time to a thousand years before today, and then live to see yourself born. You know what you have to do concerning your great-grandfather. After his wedding, it's up to you where to hide, although I know you will choose the same place I did. Your father and grandfather cannot see you at that age, otherwise something of what you experiences last month will change and then I cannot say what may happen. Good luck."

"You too." Madoka said as Pegasus stood and turned away. The winged man turned and smiled slightly over his shoulder at her. Madoka glanced at Gingka, who nodded. The brunette stepped forwards.

"One last kiss before you leave?" she suggested. "You are my husband, after all, just older. You may as well have your first and last kiss in the same day."

Pegasus turned, looking surprised. Gingka raised an eyebrow.

"I… Had forgotten that you asked that… Even though I saw it happen all those years ago." Pegasus admitted.

"I'll leave you to it then. After all those years of waiting, you deserve it." Gingka said, stepping inside. "It'll be something to look forwards to in a couple thousand years."

Madoka rolled her eyes and chuckled as she leaned out off the balcony and gently kissed the older version before wrapping her arms around him. "Good luck with whatever your future holds for you." she whispered.

"Thank you…" Pegasus whispered, sniffling slightly. "I'll miss you... "

Madoka smiled and stroked the back of his head. "You'll do fine without me. You have future descendants to see, right?"

"Yeah… Unfortunately I'll have to tell Kusari's wife that her husband is gone, that I was forced to kill him. She expected me to return with him, to save him."

Madoka gave a sympathetic look. "Well, hopefully she won't be too hard on you."

"Such a quiet girl… She'll be devastated… Like I was when I lost you."

Madoka pulled away and smiled. "If you ever want to come back and visit, you can though, right? Time travel has been invented."

Pegasus shook his head and smiled sadly. "No… This will be the last time. I watched you grow up, you know. I've also seen you die. It's time I moved on and helped the future generations."

"Alright." Madoka said, placing a hand on his scarred cheek. "Then good luck."

"I haven't forgotten though." Pegasus said, reaching into his shirt and pulling out a chain that had apparently been hanging around his neck, hidden by the fabric of his clothing. Madoka smiled and looked down at her own hand.

"You still have my wedding ring, after two thousand years."

"You gave it to me minutes before you died. I will never lose it. I promised you that."

"I'm sure you never will lose it then." Madoka said.

"I should go…" Pegasus said, looking at his right gauntlet and swiping a hand over it. Much to Madoka's surprise, a screen appeared on the black leather.

"Then.. Goodbye." Madoka said, kissing his cheek. "And good luck."

"Twins." Pegasus said.

"Huh?" Madoka blinked.

A broad grin spread across Pegasus's face, his eyes sparkling in the way that was oh-so-familiar to Madoka from the Gingka she knew. "Your first children. Twins. Better work on that stamina, you'll need it."

Madoka's mouth dropped open in shock. Pegasus laughed and pressed something on his gauntlet, disappearing in a flash of light as Gingka stepped back outside.

"Did he leave already?" the redhead asked.

Madoka merely nodded slowly. "Twins… Oh gosh, no… How am I…?"

"... Madoka?" Gingka looked confused.

The brunette turned around. "He just told me that our first set of kids are going to be twins."

Gingka blinked. "He's got to be joking."

"Why would he be…?" Madoka muttered, gulping. "I'm not sure I want to have kids if it means twins on the first go…"

Gingka chuckled and put an arm around her. "You'll do fine. Plus, if we never have kids now, then it'll mess with who-knows-what?"

Madoka glared at him. "So that's when you start talking like that."

Gingka chuckled. "Come on. Let's go inside and get to bed. It's late anyway."

As the two went inside, Gingka turned and glanced up at the stars once more, smiling at the sight of the constellation Pegasus in the sky. Whatever the future held, whatever untold secrets Pegasus had kept from him about what was going to happen, he was looking forwards to it. Even if he had to watch everyone die, he would gain new friends, new allies. He would watch his children, grandchildren, and their grandchildren be born and grow up. He would see it all. Perhaps he should start making a bucket list of things to do.

No matter what happened, Gingka knew that he would always remember how it all when his friends were all gone, he would remember their last words, allowing them to echo in his brain over and over again, never forgetting the memories he had made. In time, he would become the man he had seen, although he somehow felt that Pegasus was a mere echo of the person he was now. An echo… Continuing on even after the original has ended. Gingka frowned at the thought. When would he change? When would he begin merely echoing the person he was now, and become the person he had seen? Only time would tell, only time would know, when he would become lost in his own echo.

* * *

**Welp, that's it guys. Lost in the Echo is officially finished. Woohoo for feels and nostalgia! The little paragraph at the end of the last chapter is from my next project, which will be titled "Into the Future." It is not related to LitE in any way, although I just realized a minute ago that it really sounds like it is. But it's not. It's separate and will be a challenge to write for, well, reasons that I won't give away just yet. However, I do have to make the announcement that my updating may get slower, and ItF may not be posted next weekend. I will try to keep my current schedule of updating weekly, but I am moving to college and will be starting college classes soon, so I do not know how much time I will have to write. However, keep an eye out at the usual time for "Into the Future!" Until next time, Galaxy out!**


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